Manchester United’s Edinson Cavani Gamble Is Paying Off

Manchester United had severe doubts when they were first offered the chance to sign Edinson Cavani in the final days of this summer’s transfer window.

The Uruguayan striker was 33-years-old and hadn’t played for over six months since before the start the coronavirus outbreak in March.

But there was also an obvious temptation at being able to sign one of the world’s best strikers from the last decade.

The United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer needed to be convinced he remained hungry to play at the highest level rather than simply securing a final pay-day.

It was quickly ascertained that Cavani was not willing to go quietly in to retirement and felt he had a point to prove after being allowed to leave Paris-Saint Germain.

Two months in to the new season there are more than enough signs that Cavani has been a gamble worth taking for Solskjaer.  

The Uruguayan may have only scored once so far for his new club, but he has already made his influence felt far beyond that.

Cavani had to make do with the scraps of substitute appearances until being handed his first start against Istanbul Basaksehir in the Champions League this week and responded by playing a leading role in an impressive 4-1 win.

Over the last two years Solskjaer has primarily used Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial in the central striking role, but could not hide his enthusiasm at now having a more orthodox striker at his disposal.

“Edinson is a good old fashioned number nine and we haven’t had that for a little while, and I was very happy with how Anthony [Martial] played off the left hand side again,” Solskjaer said after the victory on Tuesday evening.

It had been thought Martial had settled the argument about his best position by becoming the club’s leading scorer with 23 goals last season in a central role, but his slow start to the new campaign in which he has yet to register a league goal has inevitably reawakened it.

It was noted Cavani offered a greater focal point against Istanbul Basaksehir, and his constant movement and direct running bore the hallmarks of a striker who has played and prospered at the tip of a forward line for more than a decade.

While Rashford and Martial can sometimes lack a predatory instinct around the six-yard box this is Cavani’s domain where he comes alive by hunting down chances.

He also naturally thrives when he plays off the shoulder of defenders where he can drag them out of position with his darting runs.

And with Martial having an almost unrivalled ability to ghost past players from the flanks, moving him back there will always be an appealing option.

It would not be a surprise to see Solskjaer give Cavani his first start in the Premier League at Southampton this weekend.

Having him play in between Martial on the left and Rashford on the right gives United an attractive balance, leaving Mason Greenwood as an impact substitute waiting to unsettle tiring defences.

United enjoyed great success after the Premier League’s summer restart last season by playing a front three of Rashford, Martial and Greenwood, but Solskjaer was aware this would in time become too predictable, and wanted to add something to give him more options.

The player earmarked for that role was of course Jadon Sancho, but when United decided they could not afford to lure him away from Borussia Dortmund, they instead turned to Cavani to give their forward line something different.

At the time United were happy to admit it was an opportunistic and pragmatic signing, but so far it is also proving to be a successful one.

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