Radamel Falcao has expressed a desire to stay with Manchester United, saying that he wants to thank the club for taking a gamble on him this season and trusting his ability to help the Red Devils regain respectability.

The Colombian soccer star is coming off a major knee injury that forced him to miss the 2014 FIFA World Cup, an ACL tear that also made big teams think twice about acquiring him via the transfer market in the summer before Manchester United acquired him.

Falcao's stay at Old Trafford is just for this season at this point because he was just acquired via a one-year loan deal with AS Monaco. But if he has it his way, he wants to continue playing for Manchester United and regain his old form with the club.

"In terms of my thoughts and plans for the future, I want to stay at Manchester United for the coming years," Falcao said via ESPN FC. "I'm still going to need some time to be OK, but I am feeling very comfortable and very good on the pitch, in harmony with myself, with the ball and with football."

The 28-year-old striker said that he is grateful to Manchester United for acquiring him despite fears about his surgically-repaired knee. Falcao also admitted that the injury gave him the most difficult year of his career, but he added that it also helped him mature as a player.

"Manchester United were the ones that gambled on me when it was very difficult to do so," Falcao said. "It has been a very difficult year, not just in my professional career. What happened at the start of the year [the injury] affected me in every way, but it has also helped me grow as a human being, to think about many things, to mature."

Falcao scored his first goal in a Red Devils jersey on Sunday after failing in his first three games for the club, and he believes that it will help him become more confident in his upcoming matches.

"All strikers need goals, and for me there was a little bit of relief to score my first goal," Falcao said via Manchester United's official website. "I hope to score many in the future. It was amazing that my first goal was at Old Trafford, I enjoyed it with all the fans and I want to say thank you to God, my team mates, all the staff and the coaches."

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