‘Manchester United needed the Edinson Cavani of five years ago’

David Lynch

• Updated: 23 May 2023 08:44 CDT
• 2 min read

Manchester United needed the Edinson Cavani of five years ago when they signed the forward this summer.

That is according to former Red Devils striker Mark Hughes, who believes Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s forward options are still lacking.

Cavani has scored seven goals in 24 games since arriving at Old Trafford on a free transfer following a seven-season stint with Paris Saint-Germain.

However, just half of his appearances have come as starts, with Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood also getting their fair share of minutes in an often rotated frontline.

For Hughes, that speaks to the fact that none of Solskjaer’s strikers are capable of nailing down a regular starting spot.

The Welshman did, though, acknowledge that such a feat would not have been beyond Cavani had he arrived in Manchester earlier in his career.

He told Sky Sports: “United have got good quality at the top end of the pitch but they need someone in like Edinson Cavani five years ago, when he was in his pomp.

“With Martial, Rashford and Greenwood, they all want to play in any position other than through the middle

“They’ve all been tried down the middle, but you sense none of them really want to be there.”