Atletico Madrid were “messed about” over Edinson Cavani deal
Atletico Madrid president Enrique Cerezo has blamed the failed signing of Edinson Cavani on the players representatives, claiming the club were “messed around”.
Cavani is out of contract in the summer and was keen on a move to the Spanish capital, but it never materialised.
Will Cavani still join Atletico? Five things to know…
- Cavani’s contract with PSG runs out in July and the French club were keen to cash in on him while they could.
- Atletico were after a striker after the departure of Antoine Griezmann and Diego Costa’s injury issues.
- The Spanish side had a bid rejected before submitting another one prior to the deadline.
- However, the move fell through and Cavani remains at PSG.
- Given the aftermath, there is clearly some bad blood between the two parties.
After speculation which began well before January, it appeared that Cavani to Atletico was a done deal with the club looking to bolster their forward line to try and turn around their season.
Diego Simeone’s men are sixth in La Liga after 22 games, three points behind fourth-placed Sevilla and are in danger of missing out on the Champions League for the first time since 2012 – although they are still 1/3* to finish in the top four this season, according to William Hill.
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However, after intense negotiations between Atletico and Cavani’s representatives, Thomas Tuchel confirmed on deadline day that the Uruguayan would be going nowhere in January.
It’s hard to see who benefits from this really: Cavani wants to leave, PSG want the money and Atletico want Cavani. However, the parties will have to wait until the summer before anything concrete can be confirmed.
Some reports suggested that Cavani’s agent, his brother, had demanded an astonishing £15 million to help secure the deal and that is why the move collapsed.
Whilst these stories were rubbished by Cavani’s side, Cerezo hinted that there were some issues regarding the player.
He told Marca: “It is a shame the deal did not work out. But this can be the case with a situation involving agents and family members.
“But, Atletico will not be messed about in these situations.”
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“Atletico failed”
After Cerezo suggested that Walter Fernando Guglielmone – Cavani’s brother and agent – was the reason the move collapsed, Guglielmone was quick to defend his corner.
He responded: “Do you (Cerezo) believe that Edi did not play for a month to seal the deal, just for me to receive a commission?
“If the mess we made with PSG was over money, he would have moved on to England, and Manchester United or Chelsea. Edi wanted to move to Atletico, as it was his dream.
“This has not happened because PSG would not lower their price for Edi, and Atletico could not cover that cost.
“Atletico failed to close the deal with PSG.”
