When transfer deadline day came around, most United fans were holding out hope for a last-minute bid for Mats Hummels or Arturo Vidal. But instead of going for the Borussia Dortmund centre-back or Juventus midfielder, manager Louis van Gaal shocked everybody when news broke of a loan deal being agreed with AS Monaco for Radamel Falcao. It was completely unexpected. United were in the market for more defensive options and a holding midfielder, not a striker. But it all started to make more sense when Javier Hernandez was later that day loaned out to Real Madrid and Danny Welbeck sold to Arsenal. Falcao is awesome. He may not have had the best season with Monaco last term, missing half of the campaign and the World Cup with a knee injury. But when hes fully fit hes one of the top five strikers in world football and showed that by netting two Ligue 1 goals in three appearances upon his return from the sidelines this season before completing his deadline day switch to United. Fans will be hoping he tears the Premier League to shreds, and he has the potential to do exactly that - while it cost just £6 million to procure his services, meaning the South American could well be the bargain of the summer if he brings in the sort of prolific goals haul that punctuated his spell with Atletico Madrid, where he scored 52 goals in 68 games. How do you rate Manchester Uniteds six new signings? Let us know in the comments thread, below.
Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.
