Falcao Reduced To Tears

Radamel Falcao has been left in tears by his Manchester United predicament, claims mentor Silvano Espindola.

The Colombian striker, 29, has scored four goals in 21 appearances for the club since joining on loan from Monaco.

"I am not going to tell you that he feels happy because he isn't," his ex-agent Espindola told AS Colombia.

"We speak many times and we cry together. It is not an easy situation because every player wants to play and every goalscorer wants to score goals."

Falcao has struggled to make an impact at United and has rarely featured for the first team in recent weeks.

He came off the bench in the 83rd minute of Sunday's 3-0 home win over Spurs but his previous appearance had been in February.

Espindola, who engineered Falcao's move to River Plate in 2001, said the £260,000-a-week forward called him after being selected to play for United's Under-21 side against Spurs earlier this month.

Espindola claimed Falcao had confessed to feeling "weird" and said the former Atletico Madrid player was wary of taking part in the game.

"He was a bit scared because these matches scare him - the matches with young teams and from the second or third division," said Espindola.

"In these matches, they are accustomed to fighting and going in hard. It was like this when he was injured in France, against a team from the fourth division."

Espindola praised Falcao's professionalism but criticised the management style of Old Trafford boss Louis van Gaal.

"He is a coach that kills your confidence, he destroys it," said Espindola. "This is happening with other great players that were at a high level and with Van Gaal have gone downhill."

Falcao's loan is due to expire at the end of the season, after which United must decide whether to take up a £43.2m option to buy him.

Credit: BBC Sport