WHEN Manchester United signed 33-year-old Edinson Cavani from Paris Saint-Germain at the transfer deadline in October last year, it was seen as a desperate move. The fact the 20-time champions were, with a last-ditch effort, bringing in an ageing striker whose best days, presumably, were confined to the past, smacked of a lack of planning, further evidence of the club’s structural rot and declining fortunes.
Seven months on, though, and United’s signing of Cavani has taken on an altogether different complexion. The former Napoli and PSG centre-forward has provided a reliable attacking focal point, leadership within the squad and a more-than-respectable goals return to power Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side to a likely second-place Premier League finish and a spot in the Europa League final.
While his initial signing was perceived as a sign of United’s desperation, the club have recently been desperate to retain the Uruguayan beyond the end of the current season. This time, the one-year extension to which Cavani committed on Tuesday has been roundly lauded as sound business – a £150m bid for the likes of Erling Haaland or Harry Kane is no longer a pressing need.
Edinson Cavani is a Red Devil for another year! ✍️
Man Utd fans can look forward to more of the same from El Matador… pic.twitter.com/b0SVAWm4S6
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) May 10, 2021
“Edinson is one of the last to leave the training ground and sets the tone for the upcoming youngsters with his approach to his profession every single day,” Solskjaer said upon the announcement of Cavani’s prolonged Old Trafford stay. “I have always wanted him to stay and experience the way our fans will respond to him as a player, and this means he will hopefully get that opportunity.”
And, it seems, Solskjaer has the rest of his squad to thank for convincing Cavani to stay another year. It had been widely reported that the 118-cap Uruguay star had intended to return to South America at the end of the campaign, with a move to Boca Juniors mooted. But the appreciation and imploring of his United colleagues persuaded the striker to remain in Manchester.
‘I have been really moved by the lads in the dressing room saying stuff like “don’t go” and “Edi we love you”. It makes you want to give that extra bit more’
Cavani on the team ❤️ pic.twitter.com/ZZgnodI43L
— ™️ (@RealistGlizzy) May 10, 2021
"I have been really moved by the lads in the dressing room, saying stuff like 'Edi you can't go. Stay, we love you. We don't want you to leave,'" Cavani told United’s official website.
"You know that honestly and sincerely that does give you that extra motivation to want to stay somewhere and it gives you a real lift.
"It makes you want to give that extra bit more for the team, to want to stay longer, to try to achieve something and help the team in the future, so I was really touched by that."
It’s easy to see why the rest of the United players – much like their fans and manager – have taken to Cavani so fondly. The model pro, he is tireless working along the front line of attack, a humble grafter who also possesses the kind of savvy penalty-area movement not witnessed at Old Trafford since the days of Ruud van Nistelrooy in the mid-2000s.
His ability to seek out chances has generated an average for non-penalty expected goals per 90 minutes in the Premier League this season of 0.53, bettered only by Tammy Abraham (0.55) and Michail Antonio (0.54).
And when those chances fall his way, Cavani has proven himself to be the most reliable finisher United have had since Robin van Persie’s first season with the club in 2012-13 – Sir Alex Ferguson’s final campaign as manager.
Cavani has scored 15 goals in just 36 all-competition appearances for United – and only half of those appearances have come as a starter, giving him an average of a goal every 126 minutes.
Edinson Cavani is the first Man United No.7 to score 15 goals in a season since Cristiano Ronaldo.
The curse is broken pic.twitter.com/cvW8KLkvEf
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) May 11, 2021
Solskjaer has alluded to the influence Cavani has had over United’s young players, setting a benchmark with his work ethic in games and on the training field and with his mastery of the subtleties of his craft. Some will bemoan the striker’s extended contract as a sign that United are unprepared to bolster their attacking ranks with a big-money move for either Haaland or Kane. But no one will benefit more from another year working alongside Cavani than Mason Greenwood, whose developmental trajectory, if continued on trend, could see him become a superstar centre-forward in his own right.
In his final season with PSG, Cavani struggled with injuries and mustered just seven goals. But that was the only campaign in the last decade in which he failed to score at least 25 times. He’d scored 112 in the previous three season combined. Perhaps those negatively judging United’s deadline-day move back in October were too quick to write off one of the finest goal-scorers of his generation.
Not Solskjaer, though.
“I said when Edinson signed that he would bring energy, power and leadership to this group and I haven’t been proved wrong,” Solskjaer said. “He has been everything I thought he would be and more.”
