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MONACO

Monaco sign Atletico’s Falcao for €45 million

Spanish sports media have announced that Monaco have paid €45 million for Atlético de Madrid striker Radamel Falcao and will soon be signing Barcelona and Spain keeper Victor Valdés.

Published: 29 May 2013 14:26 CEST
Monaco sign Atletico's Falcao for €45 million
It is said Monaco will pay the Colombian sharpshooter a staggering €14 million in annual tax free earnings. Photo: Dani Pozo

According to reports by sports dailies El Mundo Deportivo and Diario As, Radamel Falcao has signed a five-year deal with the French second division champions.

It is said Monaco will pay the Colombian sharpshooter a staggering €14 million in annual tax free earnings.

Radamel Falcao passed his medical on Tuesday and then, together with his agent Mendes, met Monaco's president Dmitry Rybolovlev.

Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdés is also said to be be finalizing his transfer to the Principality club, according to various sources on Wednesday.

The French second division champions, backed by Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev, are looking to make a splash when they rejoin the top flight next season after a two-year hiatus.

Falcao, 27, who has banged in 28 goals this season and won the Spanish Cup a year after helping Atletico de Madrid  to a Europa League triumph, has now become the most expensive player in French football history.

He only joined Atleti two years ago in a €40 million deal after firing Porto to Europa League glory.

Valdes, 31, is out of contract with Barcelona at the end of the season and had already revealed back in January he would be leaving the Catalan giants.

Valdes has spent 10 years at Barca and won the Champions League three times and Spanish La Liga six times during that period, as well as two King's Cups.

The double capture would take Monaco's post-season spending spree to well over the 100 million euro mark following the arrivals of Portugal midfielder Moutinho and Colombian winger James Rodriguez from Porto for a combined 70 million euros.

Apart from building the most expensive team in French football history, Rybolovlev's money could help Monaco rival the other Ligue 1 big spenders Paris Saint-Germain, who are backed by Qatari money.

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FOOTBALL

Thousands of Atletico fans flock to Madrid’s Neptune fountain to cheer league victory

Thousands of Atletico Madrid fans defied the authorities by taking to the streets of the Spanish capital to celebrate on Saturday night after victory over Real Valladolid secured their team an 11th league title.

Published: 23 May 2021 15:19 CEST
Thousands of Atletico fans flock to Madrid's Neptune fountain to cheer league victory
Spanish policemen stand guard around Atletico Madrid´s supporters outside the Jose Zorilla stadium in Valladolid. Photo: Cesar Manso/AFP

As soon as the full-time whistle blew in Valladolid to confirm a 2-1 win, Atleti supporters flocked to the Neptune fountain in the centre of Madrid, in
line with tradition but defying Covid-19 rules regarding the wearing of masks and social distancing.

“I was confident Atletico would win. It was like a final and being against Valladolid, I knew we were going to win,” Federico Gonzalez, 46, and among the crowds, told AFP.

A large police presence surrounded the fountain, with several vans also present to prevent people from approaching the fountain, which had been lit up in Atletico’s red and white colours.

Fans waved flags and scarves while others set off flares as darkness fell, the celebrations going on into the night after Atletico’s second La Liga title in seven years.

“It is a joy. From the beginning of the game I was overcome with nerves because Atleti plays each game in its own way and you just never know”, said Carlota Maestro, 20, who came to the city centre with three friends.

Amid shouts of “Atleti, Atleti” and “Campeones”, the rojiblancos fans danced, jumped and hugged each other. Cars and motorbikes drove by honking
their horns, some with red and white flags poking out of the windows.

The Covid-19 pandemic has meant Atletico’s fans have not been allowed to attend matches this season and their celebrations defied the recommendations of the authorities.

Fans ignored rules on social distancing and many were not wearing masks. “Please, I ask the Atletico fans not to go to Neptune,” wrote the mayor of
Madrid, Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida, himself an Atletico supporter, on Twitter. “I am the first to understand the desire to celebrate but this is not the time.”

“It is a strange celebration, because we have not been able to do it like normal, on the field, surrounded by other fans,” said Pablo Diaz, a 22-year-old fan. “We celebrate it but with a little fear, being careful, and wearing a mask.”

Hundreds of other fans had accompanied the team to Valladolid, where they watched the game on their phones in the car park outside the stadium.

After the match, Atletico’s ran out of the stadium to celebrate with the supporters they had not seen all season.

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