Edinson Cavani is headed to The Capital of the Turia…
The 35-year-old Uruguayan professional footballer and former Manchester United striker will join Valencia on free transfer, the Spanish club has announced.
The Uruguay team forward was available after his contract expired earlier in summer after spending the last two seasons at Old Trafford.
Cavani has agreed to sign a two-year contract and will be the reference up-front to Italian manager Gennaro Gattuso.
The former Paris Saint-Germain striker was at Valencia’s Mestalla Stadium to see his new team’s loss to Atletico Madrid 1-0 in the Spanish league on Monday.
Valencia won the race to sign the veteran against Real Sociedad, who are still in the market looking for a replacement for Swedish forward Alexander Isak who was sold last week to Newcastle for a 70 million-euros transfer fee.
Cavani arrived on Monday afternoon to Valencia and talked to the local media before passing medical exams with club doctors and signing his new deal.
“I am happy to be here. I wanted to play in Spain and Valencia were willing to bet on me,” Cavani said.
“I like to be where I’m wanted, where I’m loved because you live off the strength of the fans and the club’s love.
“I talked to coach Gennaro Gattuso and Valencia have given me a lot of confidence, so I hope I can give them my best and leave a good image here.”
Cavani began his career at Danubio in Uruguay before making the jump to Europe in 2007, signing with Palermo.
After four seasons in Sicily, he left for Napoli where he scored 104 goals in 138 matches, being Seria A top-goalscorer in 2012-13.
In 2013 he was signed by Paris Saint-Germain where he played for seven seasons and became the top scorer in the club’s history.
He joined Manchester United in 2020, where he played for the last two seasons.