The one that did not get away. Why did Falcao remain with Atletico Madrid as other top stars left La Liga?

Supporters in the Premier League don't know how lucky they are. When the latest transfer window closed, pundits and fans in England happily busied themselves working out who had come to their league and how they were going to fare. In Spain, there was a roll-call to see if anyone was left.

So the matter which is troubling Falcao Senior and everyone else is why the super striker is still at Atlético Madrid? Money, is of course, the main reason. Atlético Madrid (with the help of an investment fund) paid €40m for the Colombian in 2011 to take the place of both Sergio Agüero and Diego Forlán up front and would quite like to get it all back and then some. Quite rightly, in fact, considering this is a player who scored 24 league goals in 34 games and 12 in Europe. Indeed, Atlético Madrid's Director General, Miguel Angel Gil, admitted in a recent interview with Marca that buying the striker was "irresponsible" as the cost has put a huge strain on Atlético's very fragile finances. Gil also said that interest was shown by some clubs, this summer, but no-one offered the right price and that Falcao is part of the team's long-term plans. That 'right price' is around €60m, an awful lot of money for a striker who is clearly a huge talent but has an air of an old fashioned number nine, the kind of forward player who does most of his work in the opposition's penalty box, rather than tracking back and helping out in defence. Last year, Falcao had Adrián, Arda Turan and Diego to help out with the leg work, a similar set-up to this season but without the inspirational Brazilian. To get the best from Falcao you would need to build an attacking system from scratch, as Atlético Madrid did. Gareth Nunn from Madridatleticos.com says "For Falcao to work you need to build a team that works for him. To buy him will cost you around €60m and what side is there that would build a team around a player from another league?" Barcelona is one of those sides that would struggle to accomodate the striker with Tito Vilanova commenting that "with the way we play, logically we'd have to change to make room for him in the line-up and I think for now people like how we are playing." If Falcao repeats the success of the last campaign in La Liga and Europe then someone, somewhere will surely make what could be interpreted as being a gamble on the forward. But for the moment, the striker is perhaps too costly and too risky a purchase despite what Falcao's father desperately hoped would happen and despite the enormous talent the player has shown he has. *figures according to transfermarkt.com