Edinson Cavani has confessed he may have left Manchester United if he knew Cristiano Ronaldo was arriving last summer, but is glad to have worked with his fellow forward.
Cavani is approaching the end of his time as a Manchester United player. He will become a free agent in the summer and is likely to find a new club. His second season in Manchester has not been as productive as his first.
Indeed, a range of factors have affected Cavani. Injuries have not helped his chances of gametime. Meanwhile, the presence of Ronaldo up front has pushed him down the pecking order when available.
Ronaldo returned to Manchester United from Juventus last summer. His move came shortly after Cavani had agreed to a one-year extension to his initial contract with the club.
The Portugal legend has scored 24 goals from 38 games this term. In contrast, Cavani has two from 18.
In retrospect, Cavani admits he could have left the club had he foreseen Ronaldo’s arrival. That said, he has no complaints about having the chance to team up with such an icon of the game.
“At the moment it was done, I thought it was a good thing for Manchester to sign Cristiano,” Cavani told ESPN Brasil. “Knowing a bit about the world of football these days, the first thing I did was call my [brother and manager Walter Fernando Guglielmone] and said: ‘Fernando, if this had happened a week ago, I would ask you to find me another club.’
“But not because I didn’t want to play with Cristiano Ronaldo. No. Because I had the opportunity to know him, and he is a great professional, with his targets, and that is perfect for a sportsman. But as I know, after years in football, how things work these days. That’s why I spoke to my brother.
“It was more about understanding the situation. Not because I couldn’t play in my role at Manchester, but because there are many things in football nowadays that are different from how they were with other people, how it was before, years ago. And since it happened suddenly, I felt nothing. I thought: We’ll play, do the best we can.”
Cavani reflects on ‘difficult’ experiences this season
The centre-forward continued: “Regardless of my injuries at the club, which kept me out of the season for a bit… I experienced difficult situations, different from the ones I faced last year. And after a few months, I called my brother again and said, ‘Remember what you said at the start of the season?’ Before the season started.
“There are no secrets in football. For me, it’s very clear how it works, and I have a way to see football that nobody takes away from me.
“So I called my brother and said that. And he was like: ‘Stay positive, Edi; you will do a good job…’ He told me a lot of things. I had no doubt that everything could be better. ‘But let’s see what happens from now on.’
“And everything happened like we all know and that’s it; here we are. I’m trying to do my best to help my team, like everywhere else I’ve been. But my way of thinking and seeing football showed me that I was right in the first few months and on… I had my problems with injuries and I’ve been away for a while. But that was a bit of what happened in that stretch.”
Cavani still has a chance of continuing his career in Europe next season. La Liga appears to be his preference; he would also apparently consider the Portuguese top-flight. If not, he could return to South America. Boca Juniors are supposedly one of his suitors in Argentina.
Cavani, 35, has scored 19 goals from 57 Man Utd appearances.