If this season has told Louis van Gaal anything about his Manchester United squad it must surely be that Wayne Rooney remains one of the finest number 9s in world football. And, while he can fill in elsewhere, his best position is up top.
His Gerd Mulleresque agility for the second goal against Aston Villa at the weekend reminded us that he’s still Manchester United’s most reliable and best finisher.
So the idea that Louis van Gaal is about to buy another celebrated number 9 seems somewhat ludicrous. Yet reports persist that Manchester United are going to sign Edinson Cavani from PSG. The Star reckons:
The former Holland boss has been promised another £150m to spend and has made PSG striker Edinson Cavani one of his main transfer targets.
Really? So, with Rooney not 30 until October and in something approaching his best form, where would Cavani play? Like Falcao, Cavani only has one position – up top. He has played out wide for Uruguay and PSG but it’s clearly not his forte and it would be madness to spend so much on a specialist hitman only to play him elsewhere.
Louis could of course change his formation again and have Rooney in the hole. But, with the 4-3-3 paying such dividends we think that the boss has learned his lesson, not only with regards his best striker, but also his best formation.
Cavani is an excellent player but it makes no sense at all for Manchester United to buy him in the summer. They may well offload Falcao, RvP and Chicharito. But Rooney will start the season up top in a 4-3-3 to give him a shot at scoring 40 goals. LVG will also clear some room in the squad for James Wilson to get more time in the side. If Manchester United do buy a striker we think it’s much more likely to be a younger talent like Paulo Dybala – a player who won’t demand immediate starts and who can improve over time.
LvG knows more than most that successful sides have great balance. Buying Cavani would further imbalance the squad just when the boss is starting to find a winning formula.
Let’s see some Wazza goals from this season. United fans: do you want Cavani?
