Radamel Falcao was so distraught at playing for Manchester United reserves that he reportedly called a friend on the way to the game to confess: “I don’t know how to deal with this situation.” The striker is also said to have cried many times over his current predicament.

The Colombian was selected to play for United’s Under-21s against Tottenham Hotspur 10 days ago. In a move sanctioned by Louis van Gaal, Falcao was selected as the centre-forward in Warren Joyce’s team but endured a difficult match and was replaced after 71 minutes.

According to AS Colombia, Falcao called his former agent Silvano Espindola, en route to Old Trafford, to discuss the selection.

Espindola told AS Colombia: “When he was on his way to the ground to play this game with the reserves, he called me. We spoke for 20 minutes until he reached the stadium and he told me: ‘I’ve never been through something like this, I don’t know how to deal with this situation. It feels weird for me.”’

Asked about this last Friday Van Gaal denied it was a humiliation for the player. “I let my players play in the second squad. I read a lot in the papers that it was a humiliation. I don’t think so. It was a professional attitude of the manager, the club and the player,” said the United manager. “Falcao has not reacted like the media. That is a big difference. He didn’t play the best but he tried his utmost best. I cannot ask for more.”

Yet with Falcao struggling to be chosen regularly Espindola is clear the striker is not content and cries regularly. “We talk a lot. I’m not going to say that he feels happy because he’s not,” he said. “We’ve spoken many times and cried together. It’s not an easy situation because every player wants to play and every goalscorer wants to score goals, that’s normal.

“But, at the moment, he isn’t scoring and that’s part of his football. He’s recovering his best form. When we spoke, I told him that this happens to every striker, that he’ll get over this poor run, and has happened to every great striker. When you don’t score, you’re going to begin to feel the pressure.”