FRANCE: Cavani at PSG… where will he fit in?

On the 16th of July, Paris Saint Germain completed the most expensive transfer in the history of French football. For €63m (£54m), Les Parisiens secured the services of one Edinson Cavani of Napoli.

The Uruguayan international, who most recently featured for his country at this summer’s Confederations Cup where he scored twice, put pen to paper on a lucrative deal keeping him at the Parc des Princes for five years. Whilst there is no denying ‘El Matador’ is one of the world’s brightest talents, such a hefty fee warrants a superstar. Is Edinson Cavani a superstar?

Whilst stats don’t tell the whole story, numbers back up the 26 year old’s case for stardom. In the last three seasons, only Lionel Messi & Cristiano Ronaldo scored more than Cavani and over this time, the former Palermo attacker has become the Azzurri’s third top scorer in the club’s 87 year history and last campaign, the talismanic frontman hit the back of the net on thirty eight occasions in forty three appearances, winning the Capocannonieri in the process. This is all the more impressive when you realise that the last Napoli player to win the award was a certain Diego Armando Maradona. ‘El Matador’ spearheaded his team to the Partenopei’s highest finish since the Scudetto winning season of 1989/90.

Where will Edinson Cavani fit in under Laurent Blanc? This will become an ongoing selection headache for Carlo Ancelotti’s successor and where the ex-Bordeaux boss decides to deploy his new number nine could prove detrimental to how the reigning champions of France fair. Perhaps, a 4-2-1-3 could be adopted with Ezequiel Lavezzi and Zlatan Ibrahimović completing the attack. Les Rouge et Bleu’s new signing will offer more than Ibrahimović does in the sense of scoring goals and creating chances, however a potential duo of the South American and Scandinavian would give the opposition’s defenders nightmares. In this side, I’d expect Javier Pastore to supplement the trio, in front of Matuidi and Verratti, and serve a similar role to Cavani’s former teammate at Napoli; Marek Hamšík.

In conclusion, Paris Saint Germain have purchased the best, out and out, striker in the world. Should he maintain the consistency he showed with Napoli, I believe that the 6ft tall hit man will become a legend of the game. Perhaps Cavani will only stay with PSG for two seasons as the biggest sides in the world will soon come knocking on Blanc’s door, but in the mean time it sure that he only has his eyes on achieving success in Paris.