Paris Saint-Germain is not a small, bottom-feeder club that will fold to pressure from European elites who want to buy their players. The sooner everyone realizes that the better.
For weeks, Atlético Madrid (and several other clubs) has pursued PSG forward Edinson Cavani whose contract expires in June.
The assumption from those clubs has been that PSG will willingly sell their all-time leading scorer during the January transfer window for well below his value because he’s not currently being utilized and wants to leave. Mauro Icardi has come in and outperformed the often-injured 32-year-old and relegated El Matador to the bench.
Unfortunately for those teams, PSG is under no obligation to sell Cavani and like Neymar Jr. last summer with FC Barcelona, the reigning French champions will hold out for an offer that benefits them the most. Not the player and certainly not the interested club.
After PSG’s sluggish 1-0 win over FC Lorient in the Coupe de France on Sunday, where Cavani was left off the squad entirely, the club’s sporting director, Leonardo, spoke about the situation as reported by Le Parisien.
“Look, we always said the same thing about Cavani. With players like him and the stars of the club it is: either he stays happy and well; either, the day he has to leave, he must also be in the same state of mind.”
“It is true that today he asked to leave. And we are studying the situation. It is also true that we had a proposal from Atlético Madrid but we did not accept it.”
“On the financial level, it was not important enough compared to the value of the player. Afterward, I think Cavani, we should listen to him. We are listening. Afterward, honestly, I don’t know how it will end. Today, we are a little more distant from Atlético because we have not had any contact for the past few days.”
That’s a long way of saying, PSG and Atléti have discussed a deal involving Cavani but the buyers haven’t met the asking price and Cavani is more valuable to PSG on the bench than the €10 million offered according to Marca.
The Spanish publication also reported that PSG valued Cavani at €30 million, but according to Leonardo, that is not true.
“We never asked for money. We never established a value because the most important thing today is everyone’s envy. In his case, it is not a question of amount, but of desire. The player wants to leave. We are listening to see what we can do best for the group too.”
I don’t necessarily believe Leonardo here. I think that PSG does have a number they would like to receive for Cavani, but I believe it’s steep for the simple fact that PSG likely won’t be able to replace him in the remaining days of the January transfer window.
Some may say that Cavani has been a loyal servant of the club and deserves to be allowed to leave now for more playing time. That’s one opinion but it’s simply bad business. Leonardo is likely fielding calls from several clubs regarding Cavani and he wants the best deal possible and even then he may not allow Cavani to leave.
I think that the Uruguayan’s behavior behind the scenes has been a bit suspect. He’s a club legend but has offered very little the last couple of seasons due to injury. He may be unhappy with his lack of playing time but there’s one way to fix that and it’s called playing better, which he hasn’t done all season.
I also find it comical that Cavani’s agent previously said last November that his client wouldn’t leave in January and now here we are.
Let’s also not forget what Cavani said at the end of last season:
“I like this club, this city, I’m happy with my family. Football does not only depend on me, but I would like to stay and finish my contract.”
This misconception that PSG treated him badly is utter bullshit. They stick by him through some of the most crucial misses in club history. His injuries at the tail end, and his semi frequent petulance that gets sweeped under the carpet because he's a generally nice guy @PSGTalk
— Marc Damon (@MarcDamon1) January 19, 2020
PSG should not have to lose an asset like Cavani for practically nothing especially if it leaves them short at the striker position.
If Atléti and others want to sign Cavani, pay up or just wait until he’s a free agent in the summer and make your pitch to him. PSG is a big club and they’ve shown repeatedly that they’re not going to be taken advantage of by anyone in the transfer market.
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