Big name striker wants to join Manchester City

Edinson Cavani wants to join City after his issues with Neymar at PSG.

According to reports, the Uruguayan striker appears to be the loser in the hierarchy battle with Neymar, so he is seeking a move away to another big club. It appeared as if that issue had been settled prior to the international break. However, tension supposedly remains and Cavani was always going to be the loser due to Neymar being the poster boy for PSG.

Ligue 1 might not be the best quality, but Cavani has been consistent in his time there. He has a total of 96 in 141 league games, which is impressive. It’s even more remarkable considering he had to play out of position for three seasons due to Zlatan Ibrahimović. He has a total of 141 goals in 209 games in all competitions for the club. Therefore, no one can argue that he hasn’t been a loyal servant for the club.

His consistency is his biggest attribute as he has scored at least 15 goals in his last nine seasons, and is well on his way to achieving that this season with 11 goals. Other big clubs in Europe would certainly be after him, but it remains to be seen whether Pep Guardiola would be interested.

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Big Mistake

Signing Cavani would be a big mistake for City even if he is prolific. They already have two strikers who are better suited to Guardiola’s style: Sergio Agüero and Gabriel Jesus. Agüero did have issues adapting, but he seemed to have adjusted prior to his injury. City have the ideal mix of youth and experience in that area and adding Cavani would just be bringing another ego into the team.

Based on his time at other clubs, Cavani doesn’t seem like the kind of player Guardiola would favour. The Catalan needs players to buy into his system which is why he prefers youth. There are some qualities that Cavani possesses which would fit into Guardiola’s system. His movement off the ball is excellent and is often one of his most overlooked features.

The main issue with the Uruguayan is that he is remarkably wasteful especially in terms of big chances. City do create significantly more chances than their opponents, but they can’t afford to have someone who is that wasteful. They don’t necessarily need moments of individual creative brilliance from the striker. Instead, they need a cold-blooded finisher who can link up effectively and pull the opposition defence out of place.

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Cavani doesn’t offer enough of those qualities to justify a significant outlay on him from City. There is also the fact that he is the wrong side of 30 to consider. He doesn’t rely on a quick turn of pace, so he is unlikely to significantly decline straightaway. However, he has definitely reached his peak. A high-profile move to a club like AC Milan seems much more fitting due to their reliance on individual moments of brilliance.