Coming to Malaysia soon: Rayo Vallecano’s Radamel Falcao (left) fights for the ball with Atletico Madrid’s Koke during the La Liga match in Madrid on April 9. — AFP
PETALING JAYA: It looks like the presence of former Manchester United player Radamel Falcao in the land of the Southern Tigers is closer to reality!
The Colombian superstar is likely to head to Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) during the second transfer window after his agent Morris Pagniello revealed on Instagram of the possible move.
He posted: “He works with the best with the hashtag #Transfers2023” and as a reply to his post, club owner Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim commented by saying, “See you soon, El Tigre.”
Tunku Ismail also reaffirmed it by tweeting, “See you very soon, JDT 31.”
It could be a hint of either Falcao wearing the number 31 jersey or joining the club in some ambassadorial role.
Earlier in March, leading Spanish publication Marca broke the news by saying that the Southern Tigers have shown interest in signing the 37-year-old striker, nicknamed “El Tigre” (The Tiger) from club Rayo Vallecano.
Falcao’s contract ends in June, so it did not come as a surprise for JDT to swoop in on Falcao to bolster their campaign for the Super League, FA Cup, Malaysia Cup and AFC Champions League.
Plus, the club have one more spot to fill in for their foreign roster list.
Team in the Super League are allowed to have nine foreign players, with only five used as starting eleven and one in the substitutes bench for game day.
The current foreigners in the team are Indonesian centreback Jordi Amat, Australian centreback Shane Lowry; Spanish-Filipino wingback Oscar Arribas; Spaniard midfielder Juan Muniz; Argentinians – midfielder Leandro Velasquez and striker Fernando Forestieri; and Brazilian strikers Diogo Santo and Bergson Da Silva.
If Falcao joins JDT, it will be his career’s 10th club after making a name for himself with several world-famous sides, including River Plate, Porto, Atletico Madrid, Monaco, Chelsea and Galatasaray.
He has won two Europa League titles with Porto (2010-2011) and Atletico Madrid (2011-2012), in addition to helping Atletico win the UEFA Super Cup in 2012.
