Will Edinson Cavani follow in the footsteps of Falcao or Ibrahimovic at Man United?

Edinson Cavani will wear jersey number 7 and receive a salary believed to be up to £ 250,000 a week at the local Old Trafford team. Of course, the expectation is huge. Cavani has been one of the top forwards in the world over the years. He is the legend of Paris Saint-Germain, the best striker in the history of the French capital club with 200 goals. A sharp striker, high frequency action and intense. A real killer in the penalty area.

However, information about Cavani’s negotiation and his departure to Manchester United appears only in the last days of the summer transfer window. Previously, there was no reliable source that the “red devils” were interested in the Uruguayan forward. This creates the feeling that you are dealing with a “panic buying” from them.

In fact, this is not the first time Manchester United has been interested and intends to sign Cavani. Years ago, when El Matador was younger and more prolific, he was on Vice President Ed Woodward’s transfer list. In 2013, after Sir Alex Ferguson retired, Woodward encouraged coach David Moyes to consider Cavani as a possible option to attack.

The Scottish strategist is quite interested in this idea and believes that Cavani will score a lot of goals. Even the Manchester United side also met with Cavani’s representative at the time, Claudio Anelluci. However, on 3 occasions Moyes went directly to France to watch the Uruguayan striker play, he did not impress the head coach “Red Devils”. That summer, Man United did not recruit Cavani.

It took 7 years, the journey of the two officially crossed. At the moment Cavani is 33 years old, a veteran striker, scoring many goals, establishing an undisputed reputation and Man United just failed miserably against Tottenham Hotspur. The number 7 jersey was also given to El Matador in the hope that he will not spread the “curse” of this number on the “Red Devils”. Since Cristiano Ronaldo left the “Theater of Dreams” and before Cavani’s arrival, five players owned the Man United 7 jersey, but all scored 34 goals in 222 games.

The problem that many “red devils” fans wonder is whether the Uruguayan forward will follow in the footsteps of Radamel Falcao or Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Manchester United’s two most famous and classiest forwards in recent years.

Obviously the level of Cavani is unquestionable. In the current Manchester United squad, no striker has a higher level than him. Both Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial have not grown steadily over the years even though they have shown great potential. Mason Greenwood is young, while Odion Ighalo is just a project and will likely return to Shanghai Shenhua early next year.

Four years ago, Zlatan Ibrahimovic joined Manchester United when he was 34, but he quickly showed his influence on and off the pitch. In the first season with the “Red Devils” jersey, the Swedish striker scored 28 goals in all competitions, only in the Premier League, he had 17 goals after 28 appearances. It is an impressive achievement for a 34-35 year old who has his first season in England.

Spectators mourned Ibrahimovic as a serious cruciate ligament injury ruined everything. He was sidelined from the end of the 2016/2017 season until most of the first half of the 2017/2018 season. Then, when he returned to playing for more than a month, Ibrahimovic injured his knee again before moving to the Los Angeles Galaxy. Of course, when referring to Ibrahimovic, “Red Devils” fans want Cavani to play as the impressive form of the Swedish forward in season one.

Like his former PSG teammate, Cavani is also a hard-working and professional player. In his book “The best is yet to come”, coach Walter Mazzarri – former Napoli coach – devoted a chapter to praising the player nicknamed El Matador.

The Italian strategist writes: “In terms of work ethic, he and Marek Hamsik are number one. He never laps and always tries harder. He wants to practice even when everyone has finished. You can stay another 10 minutes or an hour. Whether it’s a sunny or rainy day, windy or dark, it’s him and me on the Castelvolturno field repeating the actions you need to score a goal.

Meanwhile, a source in Paris told The Athletic: “He is not fat, he has pure muscles like a Greek god. His body fat percentage is staggering. He is athletic and strong, and his dogfight is excellent. He runs like crazy ”.

Also a source in Paris shared: “In the field, he really has a family life. He is a good father, someone who does not like to drink or go to nightclubs. He likes to fish, hunt, live in the country, let the dogs go for a walk. He loves to ride a horse. He knows that he comes from scratch and does not forget the friends of his early days and the people who helped him. It’s not flashy or flashy. “

Coach Oscar Tabárez also praised rookie Manchester United as a team player and played for Uruguay’s best team. His dedication, professionalism and experience give fans hope for a new “Red Devils” look like Bruno Fernandes has been doing. At the very least, he could be the role model and mentor for Manchester United’s young forwards. More importantly, what the Old Trafford team leadership wants at El Matador is nothing more than goals.

That’s what Ibrahimovic used to do. But there were concerns that Cavani would follow in the footsteps of Falcao, another elite No. 9 South American player. He joined Man United during the 2014 summer transfer window on loan from AS Monaco for £ 6 million with the option to buy for £ 43.5 million. The Colombian forward announced his effort to stay at Old Trafford for many years and became a club legend.

However, everything Falcao brings is only disappointment. He only scored 4 goals in 26 appearances. There were reasons to suspect that Cavani would repeat Falcao’s plight. The 2019/2020 season of the Uruguayan forward only had 4 goals and 2 assists after 14 appearances. Part of the reason for this is due to injuries, as well as the fact that it is not part of coach Thomas Tuchel’s plan.

For this reason, in the winter transfer window at the beginning of the year, Cavani almost moved to Atlético de Madrid. But then the deal fell through. Ligue 1 ended the season in round 27 due to COVID-19. Their most recent professional match was the second leg of the quarterfinals of the Champions League round of 16 between PSG and Dortmund on March 11. After the return of football, Cavani decided not to extend the short term to PSG.

Almost 7 months have passed, Cavani does not play an official match. Additionally, the 33-year-old forward recently shared that he had considered retiring because he and his wife were infected with COVID-19. Although Cavani is constantly practicing to keep fit and maintain his form, the public has a right to doubt his ball feeling.

Of course, when the ball is not rolling, it is impossible to confirm anything. Certainly all Manchester United fans are hoping Edinson Cavani will bring back the shine of the number 7 jersey.