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Manchester United are closing in on a deal for forward Edinson Cavani and see his leadership and experience as vital ingredients in adding to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s squad.
The 33-year-old is a free agent after leaving Paris Saint-Germain this summer and has been linked with several of Europe’s best clubs, but United are ready to onboard him to add valuable competition to the front line at the start of a season that will stretch resources like never before.
Odion Ighalo is currently acting as a backup for Anthony Martial, but he has struggled to stay in shape early in the season and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has always emphasized the need for competition in the attacking areas.
Cavani’s track record of winning trophies in Europe with Napoli and PSG is understood to appeal to the club, with Solskjaer building a young squad at Old Trafford under the Norwegian’s leadership. The forward has won 20 honors in his time in Europe and also won the Copa América with Uruguay in 2011.
But United have also seen enough to realize that Cavani remains motivated to add to that impressive CV even in the later years of his career and hopes he can have an impact similar to that of Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Swede was signed by José Mourinho at age 34 in 2016 and scored 28 goals in 46 games in his first season at the club.
Cavani sacked 304 goals in 439 games for Napoli and PSG, but in addition to his record on the field, his leadership is also admired at United, especially with Solskjaer building a young team.
Mason Greenwood, 18, is expected to benefit from working alongside a forward of Cavani’s caliber, while the Uruguayan can also offer his experience and expertise to Marcus Rashford, 22, and Anthony Martial, 24.
If the deal is finalized, Ighalo would return to Shanghai Shenhua when his loan expires in late January. The Nigerian’s initial contract was due to expire in May but was extended as a result of the season’s suspension, but Solskjaer would always want to bring in another forward before returning to China.
While Cavani’s move is a divergence from United’s recent transfer strategy, it won’t indicate a complete change in the direction of hiring younger players like Bruno Fernandes and Donny van de Beek.
Instead, it is understood that Cavani’s move was seen as an opportunistic signing, with Solskjaer keen to add more firepower and experience to a team that was often one of the youngest in the Premier League last season.
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