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When we wrote about the unusually stacked free agent market earlier this spring, I never imagined that Roma would be connected to so many of those names. From Mario Götze and Giacomo Bonaventura last month to the recent ties to Pedro (who may have already signed) and Jan Vertonghen, there have been credible links between Roma and several of the top free agents available this summer.
There was one name, however, that I dared not dream of too intently: Edinson Cavani. The Matador is no stranger to Serie A fans, having carved up defenses up and down the peninsula for seven years with Palermo and Napoli before becoming one of PSG's first marquee signings back in 2013, but he doesn't play a position of particular need and will likely have several teams chasing after him.
Like most forwards his age, Cavani has started to slow down a bit in recent years, falling from 28 goals in ‘17-’18 to 18 goals the following year before bottoming out to only four this season. Despite being the club's all-time leading scorer, Cavani hasn't been able to coast on reputation alone and will hit the free agent market in approximately 72 hours, after declining a two-month extension to complete PSG's Champions League campaign later this summer.
While the presumption has been that Cavani will sign with Barcelona, according to Uruguayan reporter Gonzalo Ronchi, Roma have reportedly made the first move:
Edinson Cavani recibió una muy fuerte propuesta oficial de @OfficialASRoma El delantero analiza la oferta, que hasta el momento, es la mas fuerte en lo económico de las que recibió en Europa pic.twitter.com/LN42orDjdp
— Gonzalo Ronchi (@GonzaloRonchi) June 26, 2020
Ronchi didn't elaborate much beyond that Tweet, but he claims that Roma have made the most lucrative offer for Cavani to date. How lucrative that offer might be is anyone's guess, but we're talking about a player accustomed to making roughly €18 million per season, so Roma’s offer better be a whopper if they have any chance at outbidding any future suitors, of which there are sure to be many.
Assuming this offer were true and that Cavani would swap European capitals, it might...might...lend credence to this morning's rumor that Edin Dzeko, who is only one year older than Cavani, might still be bound for Inter Milan.
Not being familiar with the Uruguayan sports media, we can't say how credible this rumor is, but it's fun to imagine Cavani galloping up and down the pitch at the Olimpico, isn’t it?