“I am going to live an exceptional moment that nobody imagined.
It will be an incredible moment, a beautiful emotion ”.
To talk about his return to the Parc des Princes, on the occasion of his first interview as a Manchester United player in the “Téléfoot” program, Edinson Cavani only retained the best facet of the situation.
Perhaps the effect of quarantine which deprived him of all physical contact with the outside world until this weekend and isolated him from a special atmosphere.
The former Parisian (2013 to 2020), who trained this Sunday with his new teammates, should be on the plane this Monday, two weeks after his signing for the Red Devils and 7 months after his 301st and last match in the Parisian jersey, during the qualification against Dortmund at the Parc (2-0).
His tenure would be a huge surprise, but not an entry into play in his former garden.
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Before heading to Manchester, Cavani finally thanks Paris
In Paris, Cavani will find a club of which he is the top scorer (200 achievements) but with which the sum of misunderstandings exceeds the threshold of coincidences.
PSG "forgot" him from his poster celebrating his 50th birthday and the striker finished 9th in the ballot designating the best player in the history of the club, without either appearing in the typical team.
The Uruguayan refused, it is true, to play in the final 8 of the Champions League, preferring to remain free for a new challenge ... which took three months to materialize.
He waited the same amount of time to say goodbye to the audience he had always worn, leaving a bitter aftertaste for those who had always sided with him when the going got tough with the club or its competitors ( Ibra, Neymar…).
"He is no longer one of us"
"His return without the public who adored him will be tasteless, synthesizes Akli, a supporter of the seventeenth arrondissement of the capital.
I do not understand the choice of the club which should have extended Cavani.
He embodied the Parisian spirit.
Especially considering the recruitment.
Kean is inferior… I don't blame him because he saw himself staying in Paris and he felt somewhat discredited by the club during his last year.
“Others are harsher, especially within the CUP, where the deployment of a non-concerted tribute banner created a stir and in particular contributed to the departure of President Romain Mabille, in disagreement on both substance and form.
Side players, the emotion will be quite relative.
Kylian Mbappé surgically evacuated the question asked in "Téléfoot": "He is in another team now.
I wish him the best.
He is no longer one of us.
We will play against him, we will try to beat him.
"
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Cavani also recently ended his very limited ties with Neymar: “Yes we are very different, yes we have not shared a lot of things, yes we think differently, but that does not prevent having a good relationship.
“In the north of England, the situation is not much easier for the Matador.
The 14th place of the team creates an expectation among the fans, but they were initially very reserved.
The legend Paul Scholes notably criticized this recruitment and agents questioned by the site The Athletic even designated Cavani as "the worst signing of the summer transfer window".
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"In this survey, the agents have especially put forward the way in which the transfer was done, tempers Adam Crafton, reporter for this media and specialist of Manchester United.
The fact that Cavani, free all summer, arrives at the very end of the market, with forty to do, large agent commissions, left them perplexed about the club's recruitment strategy.
"
Cavani not on conquered ground in England
Above all, MU thought all summer long to entrust its legendary number 7 (Best, Cantona, Beckham…) to another target… Jadon Sancho (Dortmund), which many supporters have not digested.
"It is clear that Cavani was not the first choice in the plan, confirms Adam Crafton.
If that had been the case, he would have been greeted differently.
People also remember Falcao's disastrous loan (2014-2015).
Personally, I think he's not such a bad recruit.
He can bring something other than Rashford and Martial in front, especially with the head.
The big challenge is his physical form.
"
The schedule does not suit Cavani on this point, with six games in 19 days against Paris, Chelsea, Leipzig, Arsenal, Istanbul and Everton.
After having notably maintained his form by carefully staged field work during confinement, then solo in the Paris region and on his place of quarantine, the doubt is immense for the 33-year-old player.
Edinson Cavani has often thrived on adversity to assert himself.
On this level, it is served.