Manchester City 'Join Real Madrid In Hunt For Radamel Falcao'

Manchester City have entered the race to sign Monaco striker Radamel Falcao in a move that could see Stevan Jovetic sold to Juventus.

Reports from Italy claim Manuel Pellegrini wants to take Columbian Falcao to the Etihad and will reluctantly allow Jovetic to join Serie A champions Juve if the deal gets done.

The Premier League champions face stiff competition from Champions League winners Real Madrid for Falcao but are exploring the possibility of taking him on loan in order to comply with Uefa's Financial Fair Play rules.

City must have at least five homegrown players in a 21-man Champions League squad but have had their quota boosted by the arrival of Frank Lampard on a six-month loan from City-owned Major League Soccer franchise New York City FC.

Falcao moved from Atletico Madrid to Ligue 1 side Monaco last year for a reported €60m (£47.5m), earning an annual salary of around €18.2m (£14.4m).

A knee injury forced him to miss the World Cup in Brazil as his nation made it to the quarter finals of the tournament, where they lost to the hosts.

If City do capture Falcao they may be forced to sell forward Jovetic, with Juventus the most likely destination.

But as Gazzetta Dello Sport reports, Pellegrini would look to veto the transfer of Jovetic after the Montenegrin enjoyed a promising pre-season for the Blues.

Indeed, the Chilean manager spoke of the 24-year-old's importance to the club last month.

"He had a number of different injuries last season but now he is fully fit," Pellegrini said.

"I'm sure if he continues in this way he will show why he is here. If he's fit all the year, he will be a very important player for us."

The Montenegro forward joined City from Fiorentina last summer for £22million but was restricted to just 13 appearances after a bout of illness and injuries hampered his campaign.