Cavani Not the Right Fit For Liverpool

Reports this morning indicate that PSG striker, Edinson Cavani, has instructed his agent to put the ‘feelers’ out (that’s obviously not how he’d have put it) around the Premier Leagues’ top sides, as he becomes increasingly frustrated with the thought of playing second-fiddle to Zlatan Ibrahimovic at the club.

The striker only moved to the Paris giants last summer, in a huge transfer that looked destined to tip the balance of power in Europe toward France but the Uruguayan is apparently unhappy with his status at the club.

Cavani is a player that Liverpool have looked at in the past and, for Uruguay, he and Suarez have at times looked utterly unstoppable. But after a thoroughly unremarkable World Cup followed a fairly average season – for Cavani – his stock appears to have fallen slightly.

With Markovic now officially a Liverpool player, Brendan Rodgers has now filled out his squad with some real depth, with signings including Can, Lambert and Lallana. Midfield and the wide areas now look well-stocked, whilst Lambert has added a great alternate option up front.

But with the main man now removed from the equation, Liverpool will be in the market for another top striker and many believe that Cavani could fit that bill and, more importantly, that he would be open to such a move.

However, the player just doesn’t seem the right fit for this current Liverpool side.

Previously, the prospect of partnering the two Uruguayan team-mates would’ve made the mouth water but taking Suarez out of the equation, you just can’t see Cavani having the same impact, particularly at 27.

This current Brendan Rodgers side is built on youth, pace, aggression and an insatiable desire to win the ball back in all areas of the field. This married with game-intelligence and great technical ability created one of the most exciting Liverpool teams in 20 years last season, and Cavani just doesn’t look like the sort of player that would either benefit or compliment that style of play.

On the face of it, he is a consumate goal-scorer; one of the best in the world in his position, and you’d be a fool to turn your nose up at a player that has averaged 20 goals a season throughout his career and has only failed to pass 30 once in his last four seasons.

But for upwards of £50 million, you want more than just a guarantee of goals. There’s no point building a team ethos of hard-work, pace and attacking intent if you have ten players working for the team and one player lolloping around in the final third waiting to nick a goal. While that may seem a tad unfair to Cavani, that’s exactly how he’ll look if placed into a league like the Premier League, in a team like the current Liverpool side who’s intensity was almost too much for even the top sides last season. For Uruguay, Suarez has always been the intensity, the aggression, the creativity, whilst Cavani was the pefect foil: the goal-getter/focal-point.

With 179 goals in 328 games, and at just 27 years of age, most sides would snap your hand off for the striker. And while we’ve no doubt all had our gripes about the prospect of signing Bony in recent days, the fact that Cavani is a more notable player, with a bigger reputation and more goals shouldn’t change the fact that he, like Bony, just isn’t the right type of player for Liverpool. He may still have the time to adapt his game but at his current price, that is just too big a risk to take.

The ideal time for Liverpool to have looked at a player like Cavani was a couple of seasons ago, when the club was still looking to build around Luis Suarez and, who knows, having his international partner at the club may have changed his mind about leaving this summer but the moment has now gone, in terms of Luis being a Red and in terms of considering signing Edinson Cavani.

For £50 million, there are much more suitable, younger targets around Europe, many of whom could be acquired for less and give Liverpool more. One name in particular that springs to mind currently plays for Borussia Dortmund, but that will no doubt be a topic for discussion on another day!