It was always predictable but now it’s confirmed – Napoli striker Edinson Cavani would love the opportuntiy to work with Jose Mourinho at Chelsea.
The 26 year old striker has long been marked a target by Chelsea, Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain, and on the day when Mourinho was unveiled at Stamford Bridge for his second stint with the club, Cavani inched himself that much closer to a move to West London.
The Uruguay international is currently preparing for the Confederations Cup in Brazil, and when asked about linking up with Mourinho it nearly stopped him in his tracks. “The Special One?,” Cavani said. “It would be a pleasure to be managed by someone like him.” That being said, Cavani admitted that he “[didn’t] know if they’ve made an offer for me but I know that working for a coach like Manuel Pellegrini or Mourinho would be a great pleasure.”
Cavani then went into a predictable, agent-enforced, political answer. “[W]hen the time is right it would be great to play for one of these teams, because when I was a child I imagined doing it – but now I am only thinking about Uruguay. In my career I have always had to deal with rumors of me signing for another team and I just have to keep my feet on the ground.”
Chelsea has been linked with a move for a big-name striker for quite some time now and Mourinho admitted at his press conference earlier today that “a couple of new signings is normal and common practice in any club.” Cavani and Hulk have been the most talked about potential arrivals since Radamel Falcao decided to sign with AS Monaco.
So how would it all go down if Mourinho decided to move for Cavani?
The most likely deal appears to be a swap play whereby Chelsea will get Cavani in exchange for sending Fernando Torres to Napoli. Such a deal would benefit both players as Cavani finally would get paid the world-class salary he deserves and Torres would be reunited with Rafael Benitez, with whom he worked so well under at Liverpool and Chelsea.
As Torres is no Cavani and the Uruguayan is rumored to have a £53 million buy-out clause in his Napoli contract, Roman Abramovich would likely need to kick in some extra cash for the deal to go down. To soften the blow even more, it wouldn’t be a surprise if an out-of-favor player like Marko Marin was sent to Italy with Torres, as Mourinho staked his intent today to hold on to Kevin De Bruyne.
Such a move would leave Chelsea with Cavani, Demba Ba and Romelu Lukaku as their strikers, although Ba could be sold if Abramovich senses he can make a profit on the £7 million he shelled out for the Senegalese striker last winter.
