Late in the January of 2007, Palermo announced the signing of Cavani, who didn’t take long to make an impression. Entering the field with his team 1-0 down, just 15 minutes into his debut, he scored a peach of an equaliser, and the whole of Italy took notice.
He went onto to score 34 goals in 101 games for Palermo, before Wednesdays opponents Napoli took their chance and signed him in 2010.
To say he started his career with the Azzurri well is a bit of an understatement. He scored both goals in a Champions League win on his debut, before scoring on both away and home debuts, and then his next game aswell, taking him to 5 goals in his first 4 games.
Later in that season, Cesena were lucky to find Cavani on the bench, and with them leading 1-0 after an hour, Cavani got his orders and was flung into the action. In the last half hour, he set up the equaliser, before scoring two for himself, in a 4-1 turnaround.
His remarkable exploits didn’t stop there. Over 2 legs against FC Steaua Buchuresti, he scored a 97th minute equaliser, and then a 92nd minute winner to send Napoli through to the Europa League groups.
His first season looked certain to end at the top of the goalscoring charts, with him scoring 25 goals and surpassing the record for most goals by a player in a single season for Napoli, before getting sent off for against Lecce meaning he would miss the last two games of the season, and then saw Udineses Di Natale pip him at the post with 26 goals.
He has gone on to score 45 goals in just 65 games for Napoli, and as well as scoring the 2nd goal in Chelseas 3-1 Quarter-Final First Leg defeat in Naples, and a double in the last 10 minutes against Udinese, to draw them the game.
Should Napoli fail to qualify for the Champions League this season, they will face a massive task to keep him, as well as fellow forwards Lavezzi and Hamsik. He will most likely cost between £20-£25m, but with Europe’s top clubs sniffing, that may well increase.
Chelsea haven’t had a prolific scoring season, Drogba and Torres have both struggled domestically, while Sturridge is still improving. Cavani has shown his quality is scoring important goals, and regular goals too, which is just what Chelsea need.
Player Rating : 8 – Proved himself in Europe, Serie A, and Internationally, making me think he could easily step up to Premier League football.
Need for Winger: 8 – Chelsea have strength in depth, but not consistency. They cannot afford another season like this, so need a new frontman to take the pressure off Torres, and as Drogba is ageing, and could well move this summer.
Affordable? : 8 – £20-£25m would be an ideal price, but should other clubs be interested, a bidding war may insue. Would stop at around £30m for the hitman
Probability : 24/30
By Brad Smith
Follow @BrummieBrad
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