Once the dust settles from the disappointing performances with Uruguay, nothing really does change – Edinson Cavani is still with Napoli, despite half of the big clubs in the world chasing him. According to people around the striker and even Aurelio De Laurentiis, a transfer, specifically to Real Madrid, isn’t something that should be regarded as fantasy.
We’ll begin with the more serious of assumption, that of the Napoli president, claiming for the first time that Napoli will handle a departure of their best player from the last three seasons. In previous interviews and opportunities to talk about the matter, De Laurentiis continuously claimed that Cavani is not for sale, throwing outrageous prices in the air just to fend off any interest anyone might have in the 26-year old. Now, things are sounding a bit different.
One of the teams that are obviously looking for a striker of Cavani’s caliber, scoring 69 league goals in 96 appearances since joining from Palermo in 2010, is Real Madrid, rumored to be the team Cavani himself prefers to snatch him up, if the finances and all the other stuff work out. At least according to his father, but most Latin players seem to have a strong affinity to Real Madrid, regardless of where they’re playing at the moment, or how good/bad things are at the Spanish capital.
Napoli has rejected offers from many teams. But I think that they’d sell him for an offer of €60m. There is a 50% possibility he will sign for Real Madrid, but the negotiation with Napoli is difficult.
The release clause in Cavani’s contract will be triggered if any team offers €63 million. Just remember, Cavani was purchased for €17 million from Palermo. With that kind of price above his head, unless an issue of an expiring contract becomes more relevant, it’s hard to see more than two-three teams in the world being willing to pay such a price and give Cavani the professional1 upgrade he feels he’ll be getting once he completes the transfer.