Stampede for Cavani shows soaring value of a top striker
The rush of clubs throwing their hats into the ring for the Uruguay forward means the ability to score goals comes at an ever-higher premium
It was no surprise that Edinson Cavani was trending on Twitter yesterday after he asked to leave Paris Stgermain. After all, the Uruguayan is one of the world’s best strikers – which is why he earns an eye-watering €10million (£8.5million) a year after tax and why the French club had wanted to keep him for the rest of this season despite his contract running out at the end of June – and even though they already have Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Mauro Icardi.
But Cavani, 32, wants to go and Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United have joined early favourites Atletico Madrid to try to sign him. All of them, like virtually every club around Europe, are desperate for a centre-forward. In fact, it is no exaggeration to say that football is suffering from a dearth of strikers. The traditional No9 appears to be an endangered species. It started to affect the game in the mid-2010s and has become more acute.
As has been so often the case with trends in football, it was something that Arsene Wenger recognised when he claimed “the best strikers are South American today”. It was when Arsenal were making their ham-fisted attempt to sign Luis Suarez, Cavani’s international team-mate, and was something he aired again when talking about the strengths of the Chilean Alexis Sanchez before he forced his way out of the club.
“Europe doesn’t produce strikers any more,” Wenger argued. “We produce good technical players because there are nice pitches out there. Before, you played in the park where you had to fight … maybe we have to rethink completely the education and specialise earlier.”
Warming to the theme, Wenger claimed that “80 per cent” of the top strikers came from South America and that the death of
“street football” was to blame. Years ago, he said, a 10-year-old would want to play with and impress the older children, which meant “you have to fight and win impossible balls”. Now youth football is more “formalised” and is less about individual skill and having a “fighting attitude”. In conclusion, Wenger decided “we have all become a bit softer”.
No one would describe Cavani as soft. Nor Suarez, Sanchez or Sergio Aguero. It is not a description applied to Diego Costa, Gonzalo Higuain, Roberto Firmino or Gabriel Jesus, and that streetfighting quality is there with Lionel Messi. It can also be applied to African strikers such as Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Pierreemerick Aubameyang, who are relentless in their pursuit of goals.
Interview any of these players and the fight they have had to show shines through. They talk about their single-minded desire to succeed, the adversity they have faced and how scoring goals was the meal ticket for them, their families and sometimes their communities. It is the same with Robert Lewandowski and Romelu Lukaku, but generally applies less to European players. If Fulham’s Aleksandar Mitrovic was on the market, there would be an almighty scramble.
That scarcity of talent is why Harry Kane and Marcus Rashford are so precious to Premier League football and why, with both injured, it is such a cause of concern for their clubs and, potentially, England ahead of Euro 2020. If either was on the market, the bidding would start at around £150million. Tottenham would want close to £200million for Kane. In his absence, Spurs are searching around for a striker on loan, and explored signing