Radamel Falcao, who is currently on a season-long loan deal from Ligue 1 side AS Monaco, has been backed by former Manchester United striker Louis Saha to prove his doubters wrong and show his quality to come good at Old Trafford.

The 29-year-old forward has only scored four goals in 19 appearances thus far, completing 90 minutes just four times aswell in the 2014-15 campaign as he battles with his fitness issues of late to try and get amongst the goals for Louis van Gaal's side. He has been heavily criticised in the past few months, having shown disappointing goal-scoring form since his transfer deadline day move back in September; van Gaal admitted last month that the former Atlético Madrid and Porto man was yet to fully prove himself.

It is fair to say that Falcao himself is a shadow of his former self, from a few years ago. On form, he was one of the most deadly strikers in world football and his goal-scoring ability was rarely questioned by anyone. His impressive two seasons at Porto lead to a reported transfer fee of £25million pounds plus add-ons to join current La Liga champions Atlético, where he flourished.

In the 2013-14 campaign, Monaco gave the Spanish club an offer they simply could not refuse, of £45million with an astronomical wage added onto that for the Colombian. Unfortunately, he suffered a serious knee injury in January of last year, meaning he'd be out of action for six to seven months; consequently missing the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, where Colombia stole many hearts and progressed through to the quarter-finals, before a narrow 2-1 defeat by holders Brazil knocked them out of the major tournament.

His current agreement with Manchester United is that if they are happy with his performances and want him to stay at the club, they will have to pay a future fee of around £43million pounds to Monaco at the end of the current season. He is 29, not getting any younger, and because of his previous serious injury, doubts have been raised whether he can regain the goal-scoring form he once had in Europe.

Louis Saha had this to say, about the striker: "I have sympathy for Falcao - I know how hard it is to be a striker, there is always a lot of competition at Manchester United. It's a battle but I have no doubts about him; he has the quality to do a great job there. Falcao is under pressure because of his contract and because of the amount of money that's involved. And when you are in a different formation or under different management then you have to adapt. It could take three months, six months or maybe even a year before you understand it - it happens even to the best players."