Earlier on Monday, we covered claims made in the Catalan press that Barcelona plan to hold talks with Manchester United for the transfer of Edinson Cavani in the ‘next few days’.
The striker’s contract expires next June and whenever he is available for selection, he has found regular game time hard to come by this season, due to Cristiano Ronaldo’s arrival.
Sport claim the 34-year-old has the ‘most options’ to arrive at the Camp Nou in the winter market as he’s ‘reached an agreement in principle’ with the La Liga side for an 18-month deal.
His arrival in Spain will depend upon the Red Devils authorising the former Napoli star’s exit with a ‘letter of freedom’ in the next few weeks.
The Blaugrana have other options on the table, but prefer the Uruguayan, given his ‘total predisposition’ to sign for them. Barca need to lower their wage bill to accommodate the frontman.
It’s claimed Cavani is willing to lower his wages for the first six months and recover the remaining salary next season. ‘Only in this way’, can the Spanish giants afford to secure the services of the experienced striker.
The report further states: ‘In spite of everything, if Cavani forces the situation, it seems that the most logical thing is that there is an agreement between all the parties and the footballer can land in Barcelona during the first days of January.’
The South American last featured for United at the start of November as a tendon injury has kept him out of action since then.
Another report from Sport explains there are ‘two conditions for Barca to sign Cavani’. One of them is the Catalan club wanting ‘full physical guarantees’ of his injury.
Although the attacker is ‘getting better every day’ and is expected to be fully fit, Xavi Hernández’s side will only sign him if he can be available to play immediately. Barcelona ‘want the certainty’ there will not be any relapse of the injury.
Sport say it is ‘only viable’ for Cavani to arrive at the Camp Nou with a ‘letter of freedom’ and this is another condition. The Premier League side are still not sure of letting him leave and a potential exit depends on other operations, like the one involving Anthony Martial.
To sum it up, Cavani has an agreement in principle with Barcelona for an 18-month contract. Xavi’s side can only take him on a free transfer, but the operation is not closed because ‘everything depends on what Manchester United decide in the coming days’.
