£280,000 a week for Britain's best paid footballer
5 minute read
Colombian star Falcao signs for Manchester United on loan... after arriving in the city aboard a private jet of course!
- Striker has reportedly signed £15million season-long deal at Old Trafford
- Breakdown of pay is £42,857 a day, £1,785 an hour or £29 a minute
- Was recently pictured in Miami with glamorous wife, singer Lorelei Taron, 26
- Pundits have said team would struggle to attract the big players this season
Even by the madness of football salaries, it is a staggering sum of money.
Little-known
even to fans of his new club until yesterday, Colombia’s Radamel Falcao
last night became the highest-paid player in English football after
joining Manchester United on loan.
And
his eye-watering salary, understood to be at least £300,000-a-week, is
also likely to mean a new bonanza for the city’s shopping boutiques
thanks to big-spending Coleen Rooney – as her husband Wayne is said to
be in for a pay rise to match it.
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Making waves: Falcao, 28, and
his glamorous Argentinian singer wife Lorelei Taron, 26, were pictured
enjoying the beaches of Miami back in June
The
newly-crowned England captain’s current £230,000-a-week contract is
rumoured to contain a clause dictating that he must be the Old Trafford
club’s highest earner.
Even
the most extravagant footballer’s wife is surely going to have their
work cut out spending that sort of windfall – although the 28-year-old
infamously flew out to Brazil for this summer’s World Cup with an
astonishing 15 suitcases in tow for herself and sons Kai, four, and
Klay, one.
It remains to be seen whether she will find competition in Falcao’s glamorous Argentinian singer wife Lorelei Taron, 26.
The
couple, who met at an evangelical church when Falcao was playing in
Buenos Aires, were pictured enjoying the beaches of Miami back in June
along with baby daughter Dominique Garcia.
Falcao,
28, who did not play for Colombia during the tournament due to knee
ligament damage, only joined French club Monaco last year for a colossal
£50million.
He
yesterday agreed to a reported £15million season-long loan deal at
Manchester United, who have struggled so far this season despite
replacing sacked David Moyes with former Dutch national coach Louis van
Gaal.
On the pitch: The Colombian striker
did not play during the World Cup due to knee ligament damage, only
joined French club Monaco last year for a colossal £50million
Football
pundits had speculated that the club would struggle to attract the
biggest names after failing to qualify for the lucrative UEFA Champion’s
League this season, but Falcao’s breath-taking salary is likely to have
proved a more than adequate consolation for leaving the tax haven of
Monaco for England.
Arsenal fan Piers Morgan tweeted: ‘When United told Falcao they were in Europe, did he realise they meant only geographically?’
Cross-town
rivals Manchester City had been favourites to land his services, while
only on Saturday Falcao himself posted - and later deleted - a tweet
appearing to confirm a move to Real Madrid, underlining the ferocious
negotiations going on behind the scenes.
Even
based on a conservative estimate of £300,000 a week, his earnings break
down as £42,857 a day, £1,785 an hour or £29 a minute.
Fellow
new recruit Angel di Maria, who signed last week from Real Madrid for a
British record £59.7m, is understood to be taking home only marginally
less, at £280,000-a-week.
By
comparison, the players generally regarded as the finest in the world,
Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, who both play
in Spain, are understood to be paid £292,000 and £288,000-a week
respectively.
Travelling in style: The Colombian striker arrived in Manchester yesterday to sign the deal in a private jet
Not
least among those eagerly anticipating the hoped-for cascade of wealth
will be the estate agents of the North West, with the two South
Americans joining other new signings Marcos Rojo, Daley Blind, Ander
Herrera and Luke Shaw staying at Manchester’s Lowry Hotel until they
find homes commensurate with their earnings.
Falcao’s father, Radamel García, was a Colombian star of the 1970s, naming his son after a legendary Brazilian footballer.
Now
a devout Christian, the youngster was nicknamed ‘El Tigre’ – The Tiger –
after joining Argentinian side River Plate when he was 15 for his
tenacity, meeting his future wife there when he was 18.
He
and the club’s other new signings will have a long way to go to match
28-year-old Rooney’s overall wealth however, now put at £60million
thanks to lucrative endorsements from Harper Collins, Nike, EA Sports
and Coca-Cola.
As
for Mrs Rooney, her husband’s rumoured pay rise could see her forced to
make more Twitter retorts to those who brand her extravagant, as with
her response to criticism of the mountain of luggage she took to Brazil.
‘There
are more people in my party than me and the kids,’ she wrote. ‘Nappies,
formula milk, toys, bottles, wipes, and a lot of clothes to stay to the
end of the tournament!! I have faith and support my country!!’
The
orgy of spending running up to the closure of last night’s transfer
window by English clubs was last night on course to smash the £1billion
barrier for the first time over the calendar year, fuelled by the
Premier League’s colossal £5.5 billion television rights deal.
Passenger: After touching down, he was taken to United's training ground at Carrington to put pen to paper
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