After 14 years abroad, it may be time for Uruguay’s second-highest scorer to come back home across the pond to play for Argentina’s most famous team – Boca Juniors.
According to the sports newspaper Olé, the second vice-president of the team, Juan Román Riquelme, thinks of Edinson Cavani as his number nine for Copa Libertadores and hopes to sign the former PSG and Napoli star when his contract with Manchester United ends in June.
The rumour started last October when El Matador told ESPN Argentina that he had been in contact with Riquelme.
“Boca is a giant of the world. Any player would love to play for Boca. There are Uruguayans that passed by there and they shone,” Cavani said. “Following the history of our football, it awakens curiosity to wear the shirt. But we had a quiet talk… I have a secret with Román for the future.”
Edinson Cavani’s Future Could Involve Move to Boca Juniors This Summer
Plenty of Reasons for Edinson Cavani to Stay at United or Move to Boca
Hugo Balassone, a journalist on the popular TyC Sports program in Argentina, reported that ex-United teammate Marcos Rojo said Cavani confided in him that he hoped to be playing at the Bombonera by June.
“Cavani’s girlfriend is pregnant and living in Uruguay,” Balassone added, driving home the motivation for the United striker to make a return to South America.
The timing now could not be better, Cavani signed a one-year contract with the option to extend for an additional year with United. Since entering the final four months of the contract, Cavani is free to negotiate a new deal with other clubs.
However, the Red Devils are planning to keep their number seven. According to Sky Sports, United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær confirmed that he wants to keep the 34-year-old for an additional year in Manchester.
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“I can only say Edinson has done well for us, I’ve been impressed with him and he’s gelled really well with the group,” Solskjær said. “We’ll sit down with him and speak with him in the near future, of course, to see his plans and our plans. You always speak to your players and with his contract situation, we’re very pleased with what he’s done.”
Cavani has demonstrated that he fits in well with his new team, scoring seven goals in 24 matches, including the winner in United’s 3-2 come-from-behind victory over Southampton as well as key goals in a draw with Everton and victory over Fulham.
Cavani Could Be the Answer to Boca’s Continental Headaches
Meanwhile, Riquelme thinks of the Uruguayan as the player that could reverse Boca’s recent struggle in the Libertadores and deliver them their seventh trophy in the competition.
Winning Copa Libertadores is Boca’s obsession. Los Xeneizes came close in 2018, losing to rivals River Plate after the tie was moved to Madrid and finishing as semi-finalists in both 2019 and 2020.
“When I arrived in 2007 it was the same. They had not won the cup for three years,” Boca manager Miguel Ángel Russo said. “Don’t think that changed, the concept is the same. I am going to have, God provides, the luck of winning it and they are going to demand it the following year. This is Boca.”
This could be a tempting idea for Cavani, who has not played in South America since helping Uruguayan side Danubio win the Primera División in 2006/07.
“He played in three World Cups, won a Copa América and has [22] titles in Europe, but Edinson never had that Libertadores that all South Americans want in their hands,” a close confidant of Cavani told Olé.
El Matador has a lot to think about, but he made it clear that no matter which teams he decides to play for, he will play to win.
“The day I go back to South America to play, it will not be because I have no more energy to play [in Europe], it will be to be close to my land and my country,” Cavani said. “As long as I play football it will be because I have the physical conditions to continue.”
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