- Radamel Falcao will play against Walsall on Wednesday night
- The striker is yet to find the net while on loan at Chelsea
- His weekly wages are almost the same as the cost of Walsall's squad
Radamel
Falcao will be given his first Chelsea start in the League Cup at
Walsall and the match will be the Colombian striker's latest big chance
to show he isn’t a flop.
The
29-year-old was involved in one of the biggest moves of summer 2014
when he went on loan to Manchester United from Monaco with a proposed
permanent transfer in the offing. But despite faith from United to the
tune of a £285,000-a-week pay packet, he wasn’t retained.
In
the absence of the suspended Diego Costa, Falcao now gets his chance to
shine, albeit against the Saddlers of League One in a competition that
is, at best, the fourth most important event of the season to Chelsea.
Radamel Falcao (centre, next to Pedro) will be given his first Chelsea start in the League Cup at Walsall
Falcao signed for Chelsea in the summer on a loan deal but is yet to score for the club
Falcao has been a flop in the Premier League so far after struggling at Manchester United
At
Stamford Bridge, Falcao - who has commanded transfer fees of some
£100million as he moved from South America to Porto in Portugal to
Atletico Madrid in Spain to Monaco in France and then United and Chelsea
(both on loan) - took a big pay cut to join Chelsea.
He earns around £140,000 per week.
That is almost the sum that Walsall have spent to build their entire squad, in transfer fees for all their players combined.
Chelsea’s
first-team squad has cost £304.6m to assemble and that does not include
any of the dozens of expensive players out on loan.
Most of the Walsall squad did not cost much and the back five that Falcao is likely to face did not cost a penny.
Those five players are:
Neil
Etheridge, goalkeeper, a former Chelsea trainee and Fulham player who
is also a Philippines international thanks to his mum’s heritage. He
joined Walsall in July after being released by Charlton. Cost: NOTHING.
Jason
Demetriou, right back, a Leyton Orient youth product and a Cyprus
international who joined from Anorthosis Famagusta in the summer. Cost:
NOTHING.
Falcao will be handed his chance from the start after Diego Costa (above) was slapped with a three-match ban
Walsall goalkeeper Neil Etheridge signed on a free transfer after his release from Charlton
Dean Smith's Saddlers cost just £150,000 to assemble and they lie second in League One
Romaine Sawyers, a freebie from West Brom, celebrates scoring against Peterborough United
James
O Connor, centre-back, 30, a former Aston Villa trainee, and previously
with Derby, released in summer 2014 by Steve McClaren. Cost: NOTHING.
Paul Downing, centre-back, 23, a former West Brom trainee, released in 2012. Cost: NOTHING.
Andy Taylor, right-back, 29, formerly with Tranmere and Sheffield United, who released him in 2012. Cost: NOTHING.
The
rest of the Walsall team, and indeed the squad, cost a pittance to put
together, including: Adam Chambers, the captain, 34, formerly with West
Brom and Kidderminster, joined for nothing in 2011.
Milan Lalkovic, 22, a former Chelsea youth product, who joined from Barnsley, free, in 2015.
Sam Mantom, 23, a former WBA trainee, whose contract was cancelled in 2013, thus free.
Romaine Sawyers, 23, a former West Brom youth midfielder, released in 2013, thus free.
Anthony
Forde, a 21 Irish Under 21 winger, formerly with Wolves and a youth
product there, who cost in the region of £90,000 and is Walsall’s most
expensive player.
Tom Bradshaw, 23, a striker, from Shrewsbury, who were paid a settlement believed to be around £50,000 in 2014.
Of
the rest of the squad, most of them are club-reared and teenagers, and
therefore free. They include Rico Henry, Matt Preston, Reece Flanagan,
Kieron Morris, Jordan Murphy, Liam, Kinsella and Amadou Bakayoko, James
Baxendale is a winger, 23, free from Hereford. Craig MacGillivray is a
goalkeeper, 22, who joined from Harrogate for a nominal sum of around
£10,000. Jordan Cook 25, is formerly of Sunderland and Charlton, and was
free. Isaiah Osbourne, a 27-year-old midfielder once of Villa,
Blackpool and Scunthorpe,joined earlier this month, free.
Fernando Torres is Chelsea's most expensive signing at £50million after arriving from Liverpool in 2011
Walsall’s record transfer fee was the £175,000 spent on Alan Buckley from Birmingham in 1979.
They have spent less money on transfers in their entire history than Chelsea's spend this summer.
Chelsea’s record signing was £50m Fernando Torres in 2011.
We
all know the pressure that he felt after his move from Liverpool. The
spotlight on Falcao will be every bit as intense as he seeks to show
that he hasn’t been a massive waste of cash on his pay packet, if
nothing else.
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