Radamel Falcao García Zárate (born 10 February 1986) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Categoría Primera A club Millonarios.

In 2009–10, he joined Porto, where he won several trophies, including the UEFA Europa League, Taça de Portugal and Primeira Liga treble in 2011.

Rejoining Monaco in the summer of 2016, he regained his best form finishing as the club's top goalscorer in every competition and captaining them to their first Ligue 1 title in 17 years as well as a UEFA Champions League semi-final.

[21] River's coach, Leonardo Astrada, gave Falcao his professional debut in the 2005 Torneo Clausura, on 6 March 2005, in a game that finished in a 3–1 victory for his club against Instituto de Córdoba.

[27][28] He returned to the field in September, soon after the start of the 2006 Torneo Apertura, in which he made 12 appearances, mainly as a substitute; he scored just once, to seal a 2–0 win against Rosario Central on 23 October that took River clear at the top of the table.

[32] Falcao scored his first professional hat-trick on 27 September 2007, as River made a historic comeback against Botafogo to win the series 4–3 after trailing 3–1 on aggregate and progress into the quarter-finals of the 2007 Copa Sudamericana.

[35] River Plate were reported to have rejected a $15 million offer from Milan for Falcao in early 2008, as well as bids from clubs including Aston Villa and Fluminense.

He was a key player as Diego Simeone led River to the 2008 Torneo Clausura championship, his first domestic title, and his performances linked him with moves to a variety of clubs, including Man United and Arsenal.

[61] On 7 April 2011, Falcao scored another hat-trick and provided an assist in the quarter-finals of the Europa League against Russian side Spartak Moscow in a 5–1 victory, bringing his goal tally in the tournament to ten.

[64][65] In the Europa League final against domestic rivals Braga, Falcao scored the only goal of the game with a header after a cross from Fredy Guarín, giving the title to Porto.

[77] On 21 March, Falcao netted a second half double to propel his side to a 2–1 victory over Athletic Bilbao and keep Atlético in the race for European places.

[83] Falcao added to his Europa League tally in the final against fellow La Liga side Athletic Bilbao, netting Atlético's opening two goals in a 3–0 triumph at the Arena Națională in Bucharest on 9 May 2012.

[92] On 16 September, Falcao scored what turned out to be the decisive goal from the penalty spot in a 4–3 win over Rayo Vallecano,[93] and did the same a week later in a 2–1 triumph against Real Valladolid, before going off at half-time in order to avoid a possible groin injury.

[121][123][124] Despite the Colombian showing optimism about his Monaco future, Falcao gave an emotional farewell to Atlético during a press interview,[125] expressing his enjoyment with the club and considering it to be "the best time of his career".

[127][128] Monaco sporting director Vadim Vasilyev said that the club hoped to build a team around Falcao and provide a direct challenge in Ligue 1 to Qatari backed PSG.

[135] Falcao managed to equalize with a diving header in a tough away match against French champions Paris Saint-Germain; the game would end 1–1 and keep Monaco on top of the league table.

[148][149] On 23 January, the club confirmed on its website that Falcao had suffered a severe ACL injury in his left knee that would require 6 months to recover,[150] and would also miss the 2014 FIFA World Cup, while effectively ending his 2013–14 season entirely.

Falcao made his debut at Old Trafford on 14 September, playing the final 23 minutes of a 4–0 win over Queens Park Rangers in place of Juan Mata, as United won for the first time in the season.

[175] After being left out of the squad against Southampton on 11 January in favor of 19-year-old James Wilson again, Van Gaal said he did not regret making that decision,[176] and furthermore, his future at United was put under doubt when his agent, Jorge Mendes, stated a few days later that his client "may not be at Old Trafford at the start of next season".

[177] After failing to offer any shots, either on or off target, and only having 26 touches against League One side Preston North End on 17 February, Martin Keown, a BBC commentator, described his performance as "another night of nothing from Falcao" and questioned if he was "fit enough".

[190] Falcao made his debut on 2 August in the 2015 FA Community Shield at Wembley Stadium, replacing Loïc Rémy at half time as Chelsea lost 1–0 to rivals Arsenal.

[205] On 21 February, Falcao scored two goals; the first with a diving header from Fabinho's cross from the right and the second with a chip over Willy Caballero, but missed a penalty in a 5–3 away loss to Manchester City in the Champions League round of 16 first leg match.

[268] Falcao did not participate in the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification matches against Chile and Paraguay due to an injury he suffered while playing for River Plate.

[269] In the quarter-finals, Falcao missed a penalty kick against Peru, which would have won the game had it gone in, and the opponents were able to score two goals in extra time to eliminate his team.

[270] Falcao's first match in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers started off with a goal against Bolivia in the last minute of added time, giving Colombia the win on 11 October 2011 at the Estadio Hernando Siles.

[301] On 6 June, he tied the record as Colombia's all-time top scorer by scoring his 25th goal in a 1–0 friendly victory against Costa Rica in Buenos Aires ahead of the 2015 Copa América.

[319] Described as a "poacher", Falcao is frequently labeled as a "pure striker", often playing as a traditional "number 9" and capitalizing on less amount of chances than the typical goal scorer.

Former Atletico Madrid president Enrique Cerezo thought Falcao was the "best striker in the world" and that he "wouldn't swap him for Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi.

[349] His name derives from the 1980s Brazil national team, Internacional and Roma legend Paulo Roberto Falcão, as a tribute from his father, Radamel García.

"[365] He is partially of English descent; George King, (born in Burn), one of his great-grandfathers, emigrated from Selby, North Yorkshire in 1932 with his wife to work as an accountant for the United Fruit Company in Colombia and start a new life.