Radamel Falcao's father has admitted his son wanted to join Real Madrid but rejected Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool and Juventus to sign for Manchester United.
Falcao, 28, completed a deadline day move to Louis van Gaal's side on a season-long loan just days after he tweeted "Hala Madrid", a reference to Real. Although the Colombian deleted the post, his desire to return to the Spanish capital was one assignment the super agent Jorge Mendes could not pull off.
"Things did not happen with Real Madrid because, if you have money and you go to the shops to buy a shirt or trousers, you have to decide if you buy it or not," Radamel García told Colombian radio. "So Real Madrid opted not to do it and you can’t do anything about that.
"Apart from that, I don’t know, I have a feeling they wanted the player to offer himself as a gift with a number of conditions and things like that.
United could sign Falcao permanently next summer
"It didn’t happen because as I said they decided to buy the trousers and the shirt they wanted and they considered what was better for them and you have to accept that because they are the ones who pay the money."
"Thank God, everything happened with Manchester United."
Falcao was one of the most coveted players during the transfer window and the striker's determination to move to United has deprived him of Champions League football for a fifth successive season.
"Manchester United is the most important team in England and one of the most powerful financially," García added. "Juventus, Manchester City, Liverpool also approached him and Arsenal at the last minute.
"Fortunately, he ended up at Manchester United, a great team that he has to lead forward.”
Falcao will don the No.9 shirt at Old Trafford and could make his debut against Queens Park Rangers a week on Sunday.