River Plate dream of bringing Manchester United striker Radamel Falcao back to the club

Argentine giants River Plate would like to bring Manchester United striker Radamel Falcao back to the club by the end of 2015. Falcao, on a season-long loan from Monaco, has struck just four goals in 22 appearances for the Old Trafford club, a performance which undermines his hopes of clinching a permanent transfer to the club at the end of the season.

The striker's agent Jorge Mendes has previously indicated the Colombia international will have no trouble finding another move to a top European club if United reject their current proposal with Monaco.

But River Plate vice-president Matias Patanian is hoping the club will be in a position to offer the much-criticised striker a route back to South America, providing the club can finance the move and also sufficiently strengthen other areas of their team.

"We dream of having Falcao at River again," Patanian said in an interview with Esto es River. "The doors are always wide open for him. We dream of him most of all for the future. That future may be in June or at the end of the current year. In football you never know.

"It will depend on how [many players] we sell in the summer in order to reinforce the team. We have to analyse it correctly because, on the other hand, if we don't transfer we will then only be able to bring two players."

Falcao left his homeland to join River as a 14-year-old, working his way through the club's ranks and establishing himself as one of the most feared forwards in South American football.

That rise culminated in Argentine Primera Division success in 2008, paving the way for his move to Europe where his goal scoring feats saw him become the focal point of attack for both Porto and Atletico Madrid.

The striker's stock has fallen significantly in the last six months, however. Falcao has scored just twice for his club in 2015 with his last starting appearance coming in February against Sunderland.

While he recently rediscovered his goal-scoring touch in an international friendly against Bahrain, Falcao's club future remains uncertain.