Manchester United have had some extremely talented forward players over the years.
The likes of Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, Robin van Persie, Ruud van Nistelrooy and many more have all graced the Old Trafford turf – scoring a bucketload of goals in the process.
But whilst these legends are dually remembered by United fans for their time in red, there are many strikers who have played at Carrington over the years who deserve more plaudits.
One of these seriously underrated goal-getters at Manchester United had to be Edinson Cavani – who rolled back the years for Boca Juniors this weekend.
Edinson Cavani scores overhead kick and gets MOTM for Boca Juniors
After leaving Manchester United just before the Erik ten Hag reign in 2022, Cavani packed his bags and headed for Argentina – where he’s been featuring for Boca Juniors.
Even at 37 years old, he’s still a regular in their first-team setup. However, along with his fantastic hat trick at the beginning of March, his latest performance against Central Norte was one of his best yet in South America.
In just 63 minutes played, Cavani bagged two goals and got Man of the Match, according to FOTMOB. One of his goals was a sublime overhead kick, reminiscent of his Paris Saint Germain days in terms of athleticism.
“The arch doesn’t open. The strikers make it open up when we keep working, and the only recipe is to work. It’s a lie that the goal opens, it’s like people waiting for things to fall from the sky,” said the Matador after the rout.
Cavani now has six goals in his last four appearances for Boca. Ageing like a fine wine.
Did Manchester United get rid of Edinson Cavani too early?
Cavani was almost shunned out of Manchester United. The former number seven was forced to give up his number to the incoming Ronaldo.
But he gave up much more than the number. He gave up a ludicrous amount of game time, which led to the Uruguayan calling it quits in Manchester.
“Edinson Cavani was the one that suffered the most when Cristiano came in,” Ole Gunnar Solskjaer told Gary Neville’s The Overlap podcast. “We got Edinson into a certain way of understanding the way we played.”
“Cristiano, when you know him and speak to him, he wanted to play three out of four games,” the Norwegian adds.
Did United get rid too early? Perhaps. He could have had one or two more really good seasons with United. We also would’ve loved to have seen Rasmus Hojlund shadow him.
Nevertheless, to bring an iconic name like Cristiano in – sacrifices had to be made. We’re glad to see Cavani is still performing to the highest levels on the other side of the world, however.