Manchester United would be foolish not to keep Radamel Falcao

The Colombian forward, who missed the World Cup after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury back in January, arrived at Old Trafford on a season-long loan from mega-rich Monaco for a fee of £6 million.

The fanfare that accompanied Falcao’s arrival, which capped a summer spending spree of over £150m, reached fever pitch as the United faithful’s optimism had them dreaming of prising the Premier League title away from neighbours City following the ill-fated 2013-14 campaign under the disastrous guidance of David Moyes.

The Old Trafford crowd were treated to Falcao’s first appearance in a United shirt during a 4-0 home win over QPR on September 14, in which he made a 24-minute cameo as he stepped up his recovery.

The striker had to wait until October 5 to score his first Manchester United goal – netting in an impressive 2-1 win over Everton – and whilst his goal sent the home fans into raptures, looking at the bigger picture, the cynics out there suggested that it took far too long from a man who was costing the club an enormous amount of money.

The Colombian is being paid a reported whopping £265,000-per-week for the duration of his 12-month loan with the club, and even though he’d only featured four times, questions were already being asked of his true quality, his true value to the side and whether he possesses all that it takes to become a real success in the Premier League, because, let’s face it, at nearly £300,000-per-week, fans want to see real star quality. And after four games, the on-loan forward was not producing anything like the fans wanted.

Those involved at Old Trafford had hoped that the strike against Everton would be the first of many for Falcao; that he would start firing on all cylinders and that he would help United recover from a poor start to the season and catapult them further up the table.

But those hopes were soon dashed as another spell on the sidelines soon followed.

Once again, with the 28-year-old collecting his huge pay packet, criticism was sent his, and United’s, way, with many claiming that the deal to bring the ‘injury prone’ Falcao to Old Trafford in the first place was short-sighted and ill-judged.

But it does seem a little premature to brand a player recovering from a serious injury – an injury that has claimed the careers of many a footballer in the past – as ‘injury prone’, slamming his move to Old Trafford.

Maybe a full 90 minutes and a goal against Aston Villa will start to change the doubters’ minds. And it should.

Simply put, Falcao is the real deal, and even though United were frustrated in the 1-1 draw with 10-man Villa, the striker showed exactly why the Red Devils should activate the £43.5m clause to sign him on a permanent basis in the summer.

His movement, considering that he’d spent just 47 minutes on a pitch in the last eight weeks, was impeccable, and he proved that, despite a lack of playing time, he still had the sharpness to create space in the packed Villa penalty area and score an impressive goal.

The striker’s goal record speaks for itself. Wherever he has played, he has scored. 72 goals in 87 appearances for Porto, 70 in 91 for Atletico Madrid and 13 in 22 for Monaco proves just how deadly he is in front of goal.

His fitness record, whilst a minor problem for United this year, has also been impressive throughout his career. The injury problems he has suffered this season have only been magnified because of the high-profile move to Old Trafford.

Falcao recently spoke of his desire to continue playing for the Premier League outfit beyond this season, saying: "I am very happy in this city, in this club. I really want to stay."

These words echo the sentiments of the player upon his arrival at Old Trafford, when he said: “I will fight to stay here to play many years for Manchester United, I want to make my mark here. I would like to be a legend at this club.”

Despite a lack of playing time and much criticism, it appears that his desire to be success at United has not waned.

In an era when loyalty and a yearning to succeed at one club is a rarity, United would be foolish to not mirror Falcao’s sentiments.

Some will baulk at the transfer fee and wage that United will have to pay to keep him on their books, but we live in an age where money talks.

If David Luiz costs £39m, Eliaquim Mangala £32m, Romelu Lukaku £28m and Angel Di Maria £58m, it’s ridiculous to think that United wouldn’t pay £43.5m to acquire Falcao’s services on a full-time basis.

Louis van Gaal simply must cough up the cash, and when he does, it will prove to be one of the best decisions he will make as the manager of Manchester United.