Radamel Falcao signs for Manchester United in £12m season-long loan #MUFC

Manchester United have won the race to sign Radamel Falcao from Monaco on a one-year loan deal. The striker will cost the Old Trafford club £12million and follows Angel di Maria, Daley Blind, Luke Shaw, Ander Herrera and Marcos Rojo in joining manager Louis van Gaal at the club.

The 28-year-old Colombian has yet to agree personal terms - he will reportedly earn £200,000-a-week - but that is expected to be a formality and he is believed to be on his way to Manchester in a private jet.

The potent striker had been expected to join Manchester City on deadline day while Arsenal also entered the race late last week.

But United threw their hat into the ring amid fears of persistent niggling injuries to Robin van Persie and will offset Falcao's arrival by selling Danny Welbeck while Javier Hernandez has joined Real Madrid.

Indeed, Madrid were frontrunners for Falcao and the player himself posted - and later deleted - a tweet on Saturday appearing to confirm the move.

But the Spanish giants, who sold Di Maria to United for £60m last week, instead opted to sign Hernandez who had struggled to force his way into Van Gaal's plans.

After completing his move, Falcao will join up with his national team ahead of their friendly against Brazil in Miami on Friday night.

The clash will be a repeat of the World Cup quarter-final which Brazil won 2-1 although Falcao missed the tournament through injury.

Falcao became the youngest debutant in the Colombian second tier when he played for Lanceros Boyaca in 1999 at the age of 13. 

He joined River Plate in 2005 for £300,000 and spent four years in Argentina before moving to Porto for £3m. Seventy two goals in just 87 games thrust him into the spotlight as one of Europe's hottest strikers and Monaco pounced last year, paying a reported £47m.

But despite his palatial surroundings in the tax haven, Falcao was desperate to challenge himself in a more demanding environment and is believed to have reduced his demands in order to secure a move before the transfer deadline on Monday night. 

United's poor start to the Premier League season continued on Saturday when they drew 0-0 with new boys Burnley at Turf Moore.

The stalemate highlighted Van Gaal's problems up front with his side having scored just two goals in their opening three games.

On Sunday night, City had moved into pole position to land Falcao, who is rated at £50m. But their deal was dependent on Alvaro Negredo returning to Spain with Valencia.

Director of football Txiki Begiristain is understood to have held talks with Monaco officials at last Thursday’s Champions League draw in the principality.

City would have had to sell Negredo and possibly two more in order to sign Falcao on a permanent deal and still meet the £49m net spend limit set by UEFA’s financial fair play rules but that would have been avoided had he joined on loan.

Earlier, Sportsmail revealed that Arsenal initiated first contact with the star's advisers on Friday, informing them of their desire to take the striker on loan, not a permanent deal. 

And Juventus also negotiated with Monaco but were left frustrated at the French club's refusal to pay part of the striker's wages during a potential loan deal.