Manchester United striker reveals Ronaldo signing made him wish he never signed new contract

Jason Soutar
Manchester United duo Edinson Cavani and Cristiano Ronaldo celebrate a win

Edinson Cavani has revealed that he would not have extended his Manchester United contract if he knew Cristiano Ronaldo would be joining the club.

The Uruguayan striker signed a one-year deal last summer after a successful debut season at Old Trafford.


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Cavani has struggled for game time this campaign due to numerous injury issues as well as the signing of Ronaldo from Juventus.

The 35-year-old has played 18 times across all competitions in 2021/22, scoring two goals in the process.

Speaking to ESPN Brazil, Cavani – who returned to action on Monday against Brentford – has said that he would not have extended his United contract if he had known the Portugal captain was set to return.

“Speaking the truth, for I always tell the truth, as it should be,” he said (quotes via Manchester Evening News).

“At the moment it happened, I thought it was good that Manchester signed Cristiano. Knowing a little about the world of football today, the first thing I did was call my brother and I said: ‘Fernando, if this had happened a week ago, I would have asked you to sign with another club’.

“It was more about understanding the situation. Not because I couldn’t play in my place at Manchester, but because there are a lot of things in football today that are different from how they were with other coaches, how it was before, years ago.

“But how it happened suddenly, at no time did I have any sensation. I thought: ‘Let’s play, do the best we can’.”

Addressing his injury problems at United, Cavani continued: “Over time, regardless of my injuries at the club, which kept me a little out of the season… I went through difficult situations, different from what I faced last year.

“And after a few months, I called my brother again and said: ‘Remember what you said at the beginning of the season? Before the season started’. You see, I’m speaking as if we were sit next to each other.

“Here there are no secrets in football. For me, it’s all been made up, and I have a vision of football that nobody takes away from me.

“So I called my brother and said that. Because he was like: ‘Be positive, Edi, you’ll do a good job…’ I said: ‘Yes, Fernando, I have no doubt it can be like this, But let’s see how things go with the time’.

“And everything happened and that’s it, here we are, adding up, like everywhere I’ve been, but my way of thinking and way of seeing football gave me reason in the first months and from then on… problems with injuries and I was a bit out. But that was a little bit of what happened in that period.”