When Edinson Cavani was initially linked to Inter Miami CF recently, the initial reaction was that it was just another example of a big name being loosely linked to the MLS expansion team.
It may be time to take the link a lot more seriously.
According to multiple reports, Cavani has agreed to a pre-contract with Inter Miami and will join the MLS expansion team in the summer of 2020, in the middle of the club’s first season.
L’#InterMiami ha prenotato Edinson #Cavani per il 2020: il bomber uruguaiano sarà il grande colpo della nuova franchigia #MLS. Pronto un ricco triennale per il #Matador che quest’anno disputerà l’ultimo anno con il #PSG. #calciomercato
— Nicolò Schira (@NicoSchira) August 17, 2019
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Cavani, who turns 33 in February, will reportedly sign a three-year deal when he joins the team co-owned by David Beckham, an MLS expansion squad that will begin its first season of existence playing in Fort Lauderdale, Florida as it continues to pursue a long-term stadium solution in Miami.
With his contract set to expire in the summer of 2020, Cavani is free to sign a pre-contract, and reports in Italy are claiming Cavani has reached an agreement on his move to MLS.
Cavani would be the latest in a recent wave of Uruguayan players to come to MLS, joining a group that includes Seattle Sounders star Nicolas Lodeiro, LAFC winger Diego Rossi and recent designated player signing Brian Rodriguez, and LA Galaxy defender Diego Polenta.
PSG is in the midst of a roster shake-up, with Neymar reportedly set to be sold, and that sale expected to help provide a makeover of a team that has failed to live up to expectations outside of Ligue 1.
Cavani has remained a constant presence at PSG, becoming the club’s career scoring leader since arriving in 2013. The rise of Kylian Mbappe as PSG marquee figure has made Cavani expendable, though he is still expected to be one of the team’s leading players in the new season.
Cavani isn’t the first big name to be linked to Inter Miami, with Luis Suarez, Radamel Falcao and James Rodriguez among the players reported as possible targets for the new MLS team.
Inter Miami has yet to name its first head coach, but has already signed three players, including young designated player Matias Pellegrini.
Inter Miami’s search for a head coach is expected to wrap up by the end of August, with Carlo Ancelotti, Gennaro Gattuso, Santiago Solari and David Moyes among those who have been linked to the job.
It is cool to be the hot league for old stars that don’t want to play for the losing level Euro teams….and they choose MLS for obvious reasons.
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But quite frankly, while they add quality, there are plenty of ways for MLS to get that quality, this isn’t 2008, and these guys seem way too ungrateful. A player whining about the reffing is hardly new to sports, but when Rooney tacks on whines about having to travel the way that MLS teams have to travel. Move on, nothing keeping you here Rooney. Does he think he is doing fans like me a favor? I thought DC was a fool to sign him. He had many moments, and I loved his hussle, but in the end, he couldn’t win and he now he is whining.
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Rooney IS leaving, but guys like Zlatan ( me and my teammate are too good for this league ), what are they doing here? Leave. I know he has his running joke about how he is doing us a favor, but it is just that. A joke. He will be a very small footnote within 5 years.
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Cavani, I have no idea, no one does, but playing for top teams leads to false expectation for where the rest of the soccer world is. It leads to players being soft. MLS needs to look for tough guys, not soft guys. And too many have been soft.
So what I’m hearing you say is that you are against all foreign players coming if they are past their absolute prime? You wouldn’t take Messi or Ronaldo right now? Look for every Mattheus, there are Keanes and Blancos who, although past their primes, made major contributions to their teams and the overall league.
Do I wish top players wanted to come to MLS in their mid-20s? Of course. But that’s not going to happen (Giovinco being a rare exception, but he wasn’t a superstar before he came over). Like it or not, Rooney has elevated MLS’s stature around the world. He has drawn eyeballs to our league. I don’t disagree that the travel rant was childish, and makes it seems like he’s whining on his way out. Maybe there will be a positive that comes out of it, that Garber will try to tighten that up so that other foreign players will be more willing to enter the league if they can be assured the travel is more manageable.
I’m much more in favor of bringing young South American talent to build a team than aging superstars, but Rooney and Zlatan still have a role in MLS for the foreseeable future.