Edinson Cavani admits he could have left Manchester United last summer

Manchester United star Edinson Cavani has admitted that he could have left Old Trafford last summer.

Speaking to ESPN (h/t 90min), Manchester United striker Edinson Cavani has revealed that he would have attempted to leave the club last summer had he been privy to the fact that Cristiano Ronaldo would return.

The Uruguayan enjoyed a brilliant debut season at Old Trafford, playing a key role in the club’s second-place finish in the Premier League and the run to the Europa League final. One can argue that Cavani ended the 2020/21 campaign as Manchester United’s top striker.

Much was expected of Cavani going into the current season but Ronaldo’s arrival saw him fall down the pecking order. Speaking on the matter, Cavani admitted that the move was a good one for the club, the same could not be said of his personal prospects.

“It happened so suddenly. At no time did I have any feeling [that Ronaldo was returning]. I was thinking about the season ahead,” he said. I did was call my brother [and agent, Walter Fernando Guglielmone] and say: ‘Fernando, if this had happened a week ago, I would have asked you to find a new club for me,” Cavani added.

What a moment! This young fan meeting her hero Edinson Cavani is everything ❤️?

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Cavani, for his part, does not appear to harbour any ill towards Ronaldo. The 35-year-old is a veteran of the game and is well aware of how such issues work. If anything he has been proved right with Ronaldo going straight into the starting XI.

“That’s not because I didn’t want to play with Cristiano Ronaldo. Of course not. I had the opportunity to meet him, he’s a great professional and scored a lot of goals. That’s perfect for a sportsman. But as I say, after years in football, I know how things are these days.”

“It was more about understanding the situation. Not because I would lose my place in Manchester, but because there are a lot of things in football today that are different from how they were with other coaches, how it was before, years ago,” he added.

Cavani has spent a long time on the sidelines this season, with injuries hampering him every step of the way. He has been on the pitch for a mere 776 minutes this season, scoring twice and assisting once across all competitions. It represents quite the fall off from the prominent role he played in the previous campaign.

The Uruguayan’s contract will expire at the end of the current campaign and he looks set to leave the Theatre of Dreams. It promises to be a rather underwhelming end to what has been a rather impressive spell in Manchester.