Cavani to Chelsea - Clubs Reportedly Agree Fee for Transfer

There are various reports circulating today claiming that Chelsea and Napoli have officially agreed to a deal regarding the transfer of Edinson Cavani for a fee somewhere in the range of €58 million. However, with these sort of things, it’s never done & dusted until I see the player sitting in his first press conference. It’s also being suggested that the deal will not be finalized until Rafa Benitez, who has since taken the helm at Napoli, has found a suitable replacement.

That suggests two things to me – One, the deal isn’t as done as the media would have usbelieve, and this is their typical “cover your arse” clause they put into stories like this so that in the event the deal doesn’t go through, they’re not going to be strung up. Secondly, if there is substance to this report, there’s an increasingly likely chance we may see Torres going the other direction. It’s no secret that the relationship between him and Benitez has been fantastic, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see Rafa attempting to lure his compatriot to Napoli to fill the void left by Cavani.

What’s my take, you (*probably don’t*) ask??

In short, mixed emotions.

To be long winded, I am worried his arrival may stunt the development of Lukaku, but I’m excited nonetheless. I think he’s more similar in style to Lukaku than Torres is, and will likely fit into the typical Mourinho counter-attacking scheme much better than Torres would. Plus, he’s banged in 104 goals in 138 appearances for Napoli, and that’s in the Italian league, generally known for staunch defense and low-scoring games. To be the proverbial “two-handed economist”, on the other hand, I would still be a little disappointed we didn’t go for a more creative striker. Cavani is a poacher through and through, with lots of his goals coming from headers, tap-ins, or (undeniably) brilliant finishing in the box – but with our creative midfield three, I had visions of a more creative centre forward, similar to a Luis Suarez (*even though I

despise the dastardly beaver), to complement the power and directness of Lukaku, bringing a different dynamic to the attack. Although he hasn't particularly impressed me in the Confederations Cup thus far, he did have a wonderful finish against Venezuela earlier this month in World Cup Qualifying, which I was essentially watching specifically to see how he'd perform as I knew we had been linked to him.

Beyond that, I’m a little staggered that we’d be willing to drop €58 million on a striker, especially in light of how the last one turned out. All in all, however, if we could manage to fetch somewhere like €20 million for Torres, getting Cavani for essentially €40 million might just be worth it. Especially if it means offloading “El Nino”. The only other question this huge expenditure raises in my mind is regarding the Financial Fair Play rules, and specifically, who else/if we might need to sell to keep in line with them. Are we really going to offload Luiz to Barca for €30 million? Mata? Maybe there’s some truth to these absurd rumours. There’s no way to tell, but spending €60 million on one player, with reported wages of €8.5 million/year and FFP coming into full effect, means we will have to make up for it elsewhere.

IF (and that is a monstrous ‘if’) these reports are true, and we’ll be seeing the Uruguayan at the Bridge this season, what do you all think? Do you think he’s the answer to our striking problems? What about his fee – Too high or is he worth it?

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Carefree & KTBFFH!