El Tigre — the most complete centre-forward in world football before his knee injury changed everything.
Radamel Falcao García Zárate was born in Santa Marta, Colombia in 1986. Porto developed him — 72 goals in 87 games — before Atlético Madrid paid £38 million. He won the Europa League twice in succession (2012, 2013). Monaco paid £51 million for him in 2013. A catastrophic knee ligament injury in January 2014 — sustained while playing for Monaco seven months before the World Cup — changed the trajectory of his career. He missed the 2014 World Cup. He returned to play but never fully recovered the explosive pace and movement that had made him arguably the best striker in the world from 2011 to 2013. Loan spells at Manchester United and Chelsea were disappointing. He scored 9 goals in 16 appearances for Colombia before injury. He continued playing at elite levels in Spain and Colombia after his peak. Before the injury, the statistical consensus placed him as the most complete centre-forward of his generation — his combination of movement, heading, finishing and work rate was genuinely unmatched.
Europa League 2x (2012,2013)
Career Honours
- Europa League 2x (2012,2013)
- Copa del Rey (2011)
- Serie A
- Ligue 1
- Copa América runner-up