Cavani likely to leave Paris but may fit Spanish league

ANKARA

Defending French champions in football, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) were reluctant to prolong Edinson Cavani's deal as the Uruguayan star could make his way to Spain, a league that Cavani may adjust himself easily.

"Cavani is a 33-year-old player and PSG invested in their forward position as of this season with Spanish forward Pablo Sarabia and Argentine star Mauro Icardi. These signings eased Cavani's exit," a Turkish football pundit told Anadolu Agency on Friday.

Serkan Akcan, a columnist at Turkish sports daily Fanatik, said that Cavani's probable move to Spanish La Liga could be understood that he wants a comfort zone on the pitch as the football in Spain is less tiring than it is in Italy or France.

"Cavani can adapt himself to La Liga as he started his career in Italy so this is an advantage for him. The Italian Serie A is a [physically] tough league and French Ligue 1 prioritizes athleticism. Spanish La Liga is a league, where player technique is much more dominant [than physical collision]," Akcan said.

In 2020 winter, Cavani stayed in Paris as the French club refused Atletico Madrid's transfer offer for Uruguay forward.

But the ex-Napoli player may go elsewhere at the end of this season as his contract at PSG ends on June 30, 2020.

Akcan said that the right decision for Cavani is to play for Barcelona or Real Madrid as these two teams mainly focus on passing in the offense rather than run, so Cavani will have less effort to chase the ball.

Cavani is a decent PSG veteran, playing for the Paris club since 2013. He helped Paris Saint-Germain win five French league titles in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019.

However, Cavani became popular in Italy when he was a Palermo and a Napoli player.

Paris Saint-Germain paid €64.5 million (approximately $84.5 million) transfer fee for Napoli to sign Cavani as Qatari takeover pumped money to acquire star players to create a powerful team for the European campaign.

The Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) purchased the French club in 2011, launching a long-term project to win Europe's top-tier UEFA Champions League title.

Cavani is Paris Saint-Germain's all-time top scorer with 200 goals, a difficult record to break.

The Uruguayan international had 298 appearances in seven years at PSG.

Swedish veteran forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who is 38 years old and is now playing for AC Milan in Italy, comes second in the French club's top scorers list, netting 156 goals in 180 appearances.

A PSG forward in the 2000s, Pauleta from Portugal scored 109 goals to be in the third spot in this list.

Kylian Mbappe, 21, is a PSG regular and can break Cavani's record in the long term. The French star scored 85 goals since the 2017 summer.