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In the land of big name marquee signings, perhaps no name is bigger than Radamel Falcao. With Luis Suarez and James Rodriguez having moved and nobody under any expectation that the likes of Messi or Ronaldo might, by far the most grand and large and marquee-ish of marquee potential signings for any club anywhere would be Monaco's Falcao.
According to Italian journalist Mina Rzouki, and since picked up by every bottom-feeding tabloid in England, Liverpool are shock late leaders for his signature, having passed presumed favourites Manchester City and with Real Madrid having run out of space. Most Liverpool fans are skeptical because, well, it's Radamel Falcao, and suggesting Liverpool might sign him isn't far short of saying they're in for Messi.
It's not yet done. Falcao is between Liverpool and City but the former quite a bit in the lead to land the player. What a coup it would be
— Mina Rzouki (@Minarzouki) August 6, 2014
There are a few potential problems for any club chasing after Falcao despite that he started last season one of the top three strikers on the planet. First is he's a 28-year-old striker who's coming off a serious ACL injury that kept him out of the World Cup. Liverpool fans, having watched Martin Kelly and Lucas struggle to recover from ACL injuries, know just how long and difficult a road that can be.
Second are wages, as right now Falcao is making €350k per week—or more than €18M a year—in wages, tax free. It's the kind of money even clubs like Manchester City, Real Madrid, and PSG would struggle to match, as anywhere else in Europe it would take wages around twice as high for Falcao to walk away with the same amount.
Of course, high wages or no, Falcao had little choice but to move to Monaco due to third party ownership issues, and though he is paid exceptionally well to be there, it's always possible he'd prefer slightly less excessive wages somewhere else. It's also possible he recovers from his injury more quickly than Lucas and Kelly have.
Earlier rumours about a potential City move centred on the idea that it would be a loan—with a significant loan fee being paid for his services—with an option to buy in order to allow City to confirm his knee wouldn't be a long-term issue. Any Liverpool move would likely follow a similar script were it to happen. Which it probably won't. Because it's Radamel Falcao.
