Man Utd transfer news: Falcao flies in - what about Vidal?

Manchester United might not be delivering on the pitch so far this season, but off it Louis van Gaal has been doing some fine work on the final day of the transfer window.

After a weekend in which Daley Blind arrived at Old Trafford from Ajax and Shinji Kagawa bade farewell to the Premier League and returned to Dortmund, United's Dutch manager has maintained his wheeling and dealing.

Radamel Falcao loan

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Possibly the biggest deal of deadline day sees the arrival of Monaco striker Radamel Falcao in Manchester. Sky Sports' famous "sources" report that United have agreed a season-long loan deal for the Colombian hitman who had been expected to move to Real Madrid.

The 28-year-old was also linked with a move to either Arsenal or Manchester City, but United, who had not been heavily linked with the player, have unexpectedly secured his signature. He was due to fly into Manchester by private jet this afternoon to complete the move.

The exact nature of the deal is unclear, but the Daily Mail reports that United will pay Monaco £12m for the privilege of taking their striker for the season and will pay him £200,000 a week. "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," says the paper.

Javier Hernandez to Real Madrid

Mexican striker Hernandez, aka Chicharito, has been deemed surplus to requirements at Old Trafford under Van Gaal and has been farmed out to Real Madrid on loan for the season.

Madrid had been favourites to sign Falcao, but have secured the services of a very different type of striker. They will pay United £1.5m for the loan and will also pay the player's wages. By offloading Hernandez United have been able to "ease their budget ahead of Radamel Falcao's imminent arrival", says the Daily Mirror.

Not everyone is convinced the deal will further the player's career.

Welbeck to leave on loan

The arrival of Falcao will also hasten the exit of another United striker, Danny Welbeck, who, like Hernandez, is expected to be farmed out on loan for the season. He had been targeted by Arsenal but it was thought United did not want to offload him to team that would be fighting for Champions League places, that stance appears to have been relaxed in the light of other signings.

"Although United have told Welbeck he can depart, they had previously stipulated that he could not move to a top-six team," explains The Guardian. "However Radamel Falcao's expected arrival for a £6m loan fee plus the Monaco striker's wages, mean United may allow him to join Spurs."

Hopes of signing Vidal fade

United fans were delighted with the signing of Falcao, but many were not satisfied and were still hoping that the club could land long-term midfield target Arturo Vidal on deadline day.

However, the Daily Mail says that any United's final efforts to sign the player ended in failure at the weekend. The paper says that reports in Italy suggest United made an offer of almost £30m for the player on Friday but were rebuffed by Juventus.

"Sources close to the Juventus board have told Sportsmail that the offer was made on Friday and that the answer from the Turin club effectively ended United's hopes of installing Vidal as the midfield general they so desperately need."

"It represents a massive blow for manager Louis van Gaal, who wanted Vidal's energy and physical presence to revitalise a pedestrian-looking midfield."

Tom Cleverley to stay?

The Guardian also suggests that Tom Cleverley's proposed move to Aston Villa is no longer on the table. Instead the paper says he "may decide to stay at United and become a free agent in May, when his contract expires".

The player is also said to have rejected a move to Hull because they could not satisfy his wage demands. But he could still sign for Everton.

Van Gaal misses out on keeper Vermeer

Man United are in the market for a goalkeeper but missed out on signing Kenneth Vermeer from Ajax, reports the Daily Mirror, which claims that Anders Lindegaard was offered to the Dutch side as part of the deal. United's loss is Feyenoord's gain, as Vermeer has agreed to join Ajax's bitter rivals Feyenoord.

"Van Gaal is looking for an understudy to De Gea, with Lindegaard having been told he can go, while Ben Amos has failed to impress the United boss," says the paper.