The Colombia coach, José Pékerman, has vowed to restore Radamel Falcao’s confidence during the South American country’s mini-Asian tour next week.

The Argentinian manager named the Manchester United striker in a 24-man squad for Colombia’s upcoming games against Bahrain and Kuwait, before claiming he was desperate to meet the 29-year-old to help rejuvenate the player’s career.

“It’s a huge problem that we need to resolve; this problem is as large as the sadness that Falcao is going through right now,” Pékerman said. “I feel I need to support him because I understand how hard it is for him and the difficult moment he is experiencing. I want to work with him again and help him restore his confidence.”

In next week’s international break Colombia will play their first games of 2015 in a double header in the Middle East, and Pékerman has backed his struggling forward to use the opportunity to rediscover the form that made him one of the most feared goalscorers in the world.

“I know Falcao’s strengths, his mentality and his fighting spirit, and I’ve never doubted that he’ll come out the other side,” Pékerman said. “He’s in a bad moment, but he’s looking after himself and this week is going to be very important for him.”

Falcao’s slump in form at Old Trafford has left many doubting where the on-loan striker’s future lies, with Manchester United needing to decide whether to take up a £43.2m option to buy the Colombian at the end of the season. While that possibility currently seems extremely unlikely, back in Falcao’s native Colombia many blame the Manchester United manager, Louis van Gaal, for the striker’s form, particularly after Falcao was relegated to the Under-21 team for a recent match against Tottenham.

But Pékerman refused to criticise the Dutch coach for the humiliation, despite assuring that he is “on Falcao’s side”.

“Without being there you can’t really comment about these matters. In terms of decisions taken regarding coaching methods, players the manager chooses or in which team a player plays for, I don’t think I should comment on that.

“Of course, on a human level I’m on Falcao’s side because I know that he’s suffering and he deserves the opportunity to work better and to have his chance to show that he’s OK. But it’s not my job to judge the decisions of another coach.”

Pékerman, who led Colombia to a historic quarter-final finish at last year’s World Cup, also named the Arsenal goalkeeper David Ospina, Aston Villa’s Carlos Sánchez and the new Chelsea signing Juan Cuadrado in his latest squad.

Standing in third place in the Fifa world rankings, Colombia face Bahrain next Thursday before travelling to Dubai to play Kuwait four days later as part of preparations for this summer’s Copa America where Los Cafeteros will start as one of the favourites.