Man United beat Roma 6-2 in the Europa League semi-final and it was Edinson Cavani who took the centre stage for the Premier League side. And according to some people, this fine performance from the South American is really bad news for one Anthony Martial.
Cavani scored a brace and even assisted two goals on Thursday and his performance once again showed why Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is desperate to hold onto him for one more season. The Man United boss even went on to make a public appeal.
The manager said after the match, as quoted by TEAMtalk: “Edinson was excellent, as a centre forward should be playing – running the channels, being a focal point, creating chances for others, scoring goals, missing a couple of chances as well. Absolutely delighted with him.
“He was out for seven months and he’d not been playing football for a long, long time before he came to us. He’s had his couple of injuries and he’s now worked really hard to get back fit and he shows his qualities. He knows my feelings. He knows that I’d love to him for another year.
“We have spoken about it. I understand this year has been very difficult but I’ve promised him that Old Trafford and Manchester is a different place with our fans in the stadium.
“He must try to get that feeling, to be on our side. Manchester is a fantastic place to live. I’m doing my best so let’s see. Of course nights like this, hopefully we can get to the final and hopefully he can see himself being here for another year.”
No matter what happens with Edinson Cavani there’s no way Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will rely on Anthony Martial to be his primary centre-forward from here on.
Manchester United are said to be on the lookout for a new striker in the summer and as soon as they get their hands on one, Anthony Martial will be shown the door.
This season, the Frenchman has netted just four goals in 22 Premier League games whereas a 34-year-old Edinson Cavani has found the back of the net eight times in the same number of matches.
There will be a number of clubs who will want to buy Anthony Martial for a pretty handsome transfer fee so this is the perfect time for Man United to cash in on him. And even if Man United cannot acquire a new centre-forward in the summer then we have a feeling Ole is more than ready to take his chances with the ageing Edinson Cavani instead of using Anthony Martial week-in-week-out.
