Edinson Cavani Manchester United 2020-21Getty Images

‘A lot of teams will regret not signing Cavani’ – Man Utd striker has proved Chadwick wrong

There will be “a lot of teams regretting” not signing Edinson Cavani, says Luke Chadwick, with the former Manchester United winger admitting that an experienced frontman has proved him wrong.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made the acquisition of another goal-getter a top priority during the summer transfer window.

Many expected the Red Devils to snap up a player of promise that could fill an important role in the present and future.

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In the end, options proved to be in short supply and former Paris Saint-Germain star Cavani was plucked out of the free agent pool on deadline day.

He is not a long-term solution for United at 33 years of age, but he is proven at the very highest level and has shown over the course of a prolific career that he knows where the back of the net is.

Those qualities have been showcased across his early weeks in England, with a match-winning brace helping the Red Devils to recover from two goals down in their last outing at Southampton to claim another three points on the road.

Starting berths look set to be in short supply for Cavani, despite his efforts so far, but Chadwick concedes that Solskjaer has pulled off quite the coup in landing a striker that many will now be wishing they had approached.

The ex-United midfielder told CaughtOffside: “I think obviously Cavani coming on made a huge difference in terms of the two goals and an assist [against Southampton].

“I think his movement was brilliant around the box. United started the game well and were by far the better team for the first 20-25 minutes but just lacked that cutting edge in front of goal, but Cavani completely turned the game on its head in the second half.

“I’m sure after seeing his performance on Sunday a lot of teams will be regretting not signing him, but when you get to a certain age it does count against you a little bit.

“He seems to fit into just what United need at this moment in time in terms of a real penalty box predator.

“I wasn’t 100 per cent convinced when they first signed him in terms of what he still has to offer, but he looks in incredible physical shape and his movement – you don’t lose that, that movement he’s had over the years that’s made him a world-class goalscorer.

“Although he set up the Bruno Fernandes goal with a lovely cross, you don’t see a huge amount of him outside the box, all he’s interested in is getting in that box, getting across the front post and that’s something United haven’t had for many a year now – a really natural goalscorer.”

United will be back in action on Wednesday when they take on Cavani’s former employers PSG in the Champions League.

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