Centre stage stood a lady in vivid red and a Russian man in a sober suit. Behind them on a giant screen were the words: Radamel Falcao.
This was an auditorium in Monte Carlo in May. Falcao was not there but his presence was felt. This was the day that AS Monaco, a French second division club in April, confirmed the £50million signing of Falcao from Atletico Madrid. No wonder the place throbbed. Monaco had just turned up the volume.
For somewhere the size of a small park, the principality of Monaco has never had a problem being a big noise: see the Monaco Grand Prix. But Monaco are about to embark on a loud season in France’s Ligue 1 and they are being heard across Europe. Before that, they arrive in Leicester to take on the Championship club tomorrow afternoon. Leicester are big spenders in Championship terms but they can’t touch what has happened on the Cote d’Azur.
This summer, Monaco have spent £50m on Falcao and £60m on the Porto pair, James Rodriguez and Joao Moutinho. Ricardo Carvalho and Eric Abidal have joined on frees from Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively. The daily speculation is that a cavalcade of other distinguished players, including Cristiano Ronaldo, will soon be running out at Stade Louis II to be greeted by not very many.
This is part of the Monaco contradiction. Falcao could have joined any of Europe’s elite clubs but signed for one which attracted 4,089 fans to a Ligue 2 game in January. The capacity is 18,000 but AS Monaco had a lower average attendance than Chesterfield last season. They also start the season with a two-point penalty as punishment for, of all things, a pitch invasion.
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