Deadline day in Monday, and we’re now in the final hours for Manchester United to finally get a second player acquisition deal over the line. According to multiple reports, United are closing in on long time target and Paris Saint-Germain striker Edinson Cavani.
ESPN reports that: “talks accelerated quickly on Saturday with final discussions scheduled for Sunday morning.” The 33-year-old Uruguayan is reportedly set to sign a one year deal, with a club option for a second, additional year.
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Available on a free, reports indicate Cavani’s wages will be very generous. And the current conventional wisdom, to the degree that there is such a thing, says that United are the only club willing to pay Cavani what he wants.
In all truth this is a deal that Old Trafford should have closed several years ago, and getting it done now just doesn’t provide the same kind of splash, had they completed the move in say, 2016. Still this deal does fit a need, and overall it is a solid pick-up.
Cavani could serve under Anthony Martial as the current back-up striker while Odion Ighalo is set to return to his parent club Shanghai Shenhua, come January.
So it’s smart of United to beef up the final third now, but this still leaves them having failed to address most of their team needs this summer transfer window. It appears that Cavani could be signed, sealed, delivered today, and potentially unveiled on deadline day.
If/when that happens, it still doesn’t change the fact that they failed to sign a central defender, left back and right sided attacking player. Cavani will definitely help though. He may be well on the wrong side of 30, but this deal will be much more similar to the Zlatan Ibrahimovic pick-up than it will the Radamel Falcao signing.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.