Man Utd star remains keen on Barcelona move despite Champions League disaster
Edinson Cavani is still keen on quitting Manchester United for Barcelona despite the Catalan giants crashing out of the Champions League in a disastrous fashion.
New Barca boss Xavi was unable to keep his side in Europe’s premier cup competition after they lost 3-0 at Bayern Munich on Wednesday night. That defeat saw Benfica leapfrog Barcelona in Group E, with the Spanish side relegated to the Europa League.
Xavi wants to improve his squad in January, despite limited funds, but European failure could cost them.
A £38million move for Manchester City forward Ferran Torres is in the offing, with doubts of Sergio Aguero’s long-term future. Meanwhile, Barca are still hopeful of luring Cavani to the Nou Camp in a bargain deal.
The Uruguay star will be out on contract next summer and is expected to move on. However, United could cash in on the player in January instead and land a small fee.
And for his part, Mundo Deportivo claims that Cavani is not deterred by playing in the Europa League.
The report adds that the 34-year-old just wants the prestige of playing for Barcelona, whatever their current woes.
Cavani also feels that he will have even less of a role to play at United after Ralf Rangnick’s arrival.
It looks as Xavi is keen on a deal too after his comments on the player last week.
The Barca chief said: “I think he’s a good player, but I’d rather talk about the players who are here, who are important, who need the love of the fans and from us as well. But yes, Cavani is a great player.”
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Neville fears for exposed Man Utd duo
Meanwhile, Gary Neville claims that full-backs Diogo Dalot and Alex Telles will ‘get exposed’ in Manchester United’s new system under interim boss Ralf Rangnick.
United edged past bottom club Norwich City on Saturday thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo’s second-half penalty that sealed a 1-0 victory. But the Canaries caused Rangnick’s men plenty of problems at Carrow Road, with the Red Devils thankful to an outstanding performance from David De Gea.
At the other end of the pitch, United’s forwards struggled to make an impact. Meanwhile, Neville believes their two stand-in full-backs will face difficulty when they play against the top sides in the Premier League.
“It wasn’t a good performance,” Neville told Sky Sports.
“Against any other team in the league that would have caused them problems. If they go to Brentford and play like that they’re in trouble. He’ll take that week all day long, two 1-0 wins.
“It was Norwich’s lack of quality. Today I thought that any other team in the league that had any sort of quality about them would have caused real problems.
“The one thing that Ralf Rangnick had to try and fix first was the defensive problems, and make them tougher to play against. I don’t think they were tough to play against today.
“The big mystery of today for me is why Manchester United were so lacking in energy. I thought they would be a lot better than that after having a free week to prepare. We’ll know a little bit more on Tuesday night.
Man Utd duo face tougher tests
“Rangnick is still finding out about his players. I do think there will be a problem with this system when they play against a team with good full-backs who have got more quality. Dalot and Telles will basically get exposed.
“Fernandes and Sancho won’t be able to get out in time by the time a Cancelo or a Robertson or an Alexander-Arnold are running down the wing. But they’ve got a few months before they play those types of players.
“I think by then they would’ve changed things around a little bit, he’ll have got to know the players. I think it’s been a good start from the fact they’ve won both games, they needed to win games and build confidence in the new coach.”
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