Chelsea and United Dealt Blow In South American Striker Chase – Report

Manchester United and Chelsea target Radamel Falcao has chosen a move to Monaco, according to reports in France, with the goalscoring sensation set for an exit from Atletico Madrid in the summer.

Having scored 31 times this season in La Liga, Falcao is third only to Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in the goalscoring stakes in Spain. And as a result, he has long been on the radar of a number of European clubs.

Chelsea were believed to be considering Falcao as a possible replacement for the misfiring Fernando Torres, who has scored 21 goals this season but failed to make an impact in the big games; while United were recently connected with the Colombia international as a possible replacement for Wayne Rooney.

But now French titles La Sexta and Le 10 Sport have both claimed that Monaco have trumped the English giants, and will announce a deal for the 27 year old in the coming weeks.

While Monaco are currently in Ligue 2, they have bid ambitions going forward and are just one win away from sealing promotion back to the top flight.

Russian billionaire owner Dmitry Rybolovlev has set about making the club a European force once more, with their fall from grace following making the Champions League final in 2004 widely documented.

The side were strongly connected with a move for David Beckham last season, but the superstar chose to do a deal with Paris Saint Germain instead.

While the French outfit will no doubt have faced a tough fight from United, and in particular Chelsea to offer Falcao top wages, Monaco are seemingly prepared to offer massive sums in order to restore the club to competing at the very top level.

And Falcao would certainly be the first step to showing the owner's intentions of returning back to the glory days with Monaco, leaving United and Chelsea to look for other candidates to build on their firepower.