Edinson Cavani reveals Cristiano Ronaldo's signing made him want to leave Manchester United

Cavani endured a difficult second season at Old Trafford, scoring only twice from the 18 games he managed to play so far this campaign in all competitions.

Edinson Cavani in a file photo; Credit: Twitter@ManUtd
By Karthik Raman | May 6, 2022 | 3 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

Edinson Cavani has divulged that Cristiano Ronaldo’s arrival at Manchester United last summer made him think about the possibility of leaving the club. The 35-year-old striker cannot be blamed for having these thoughts particularly when the club signed arguably one of the best-ever goal scorers in world football history. This is a question many fans wondered as to how Ronaldo and Cavani can be fitted into the same team. Unfortunately, it was the Uruguayan who had to be benched at the expense of the Portuguese star. Be it under former manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer or interim manager Ralf Rangnick, Cavani struggled for game time this season.

Why Edinson Cavani wanted to leave Manchester United?

“At the moment it was done, I thought it was a good thing for Manchester to sign Cristiano,” Cavani told ESPN Brasil. “Knowing a bit about the world of football these days, the first thing I did was call my [brother and manager Walter Fernando Guglielmone] and said: ‘Fernando, if this had happened a week ago, I would ask you to find me another club.’ But not because I didn’t want to play with Cristiano Ronaldo. No. Because I had the opportunity to know him, and he is a great professional, with his targets, and that is perfect for a sportsman. But as I know, after years in football, how things work these days. That’s why I spoke to my brother.”

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Cavani endured a difficult second season at Old Trafford, scoring only twice from the 18 games he managed to play so far this campaign in all competitions. It was not the season he would have had in mind after experiencing a promising campaign the year before in Manchester. “It was more about understanding the situation. Not because I couldn’t play in my role at Manchester, but because there are many things in football nowadays that are different from how they were with other people, how it was before, years ago. And since it happened suddenly, I felt nothing. I thought: We’ll play, do the best we can,” he stated.

‘I experienced difficult situations’

However, it was not only Ronaldo’s arrival that limited Cavani’s game time, but injuries also hampered his participation. “Regardless of my injuries at the club, which kept me out of the season for a bit… I experienced difficult situations, different from the ones I faced last year. And after a few months, I called my brother again and said, ‘Remember what you said at the start of the season?’ Before the season started. There are no secrets in football. For me, it’s very clear how it works, and I have a way to see football that nobody takes away from me,” he explained.

Cavani added: “So I called my brother and said that. And he was like: ‘Stay positive, Edi, you will do a good job…’ He told me a lot of things. I had no doubt that everything could be better, ‘But let’s see what happens from now on.’ And everything happened like we all know and that’s it, here we are, I’m trying to do my best to help my team, like everywhere else I’ve been, but my way of thinking and seeing football showed me that I was right in the first few months and on… I had my problems with injuries and I’ve been away for a while. But that was a bit of what happened in that stretch.”





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