Manchester United forward Edinson Cavani “has not decided” yet where he will play next season despite his father hinting the striker will leave the Premier League in the summer to play for Boca Juniors, sources told ESPN.
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Luis Cavani, the father of the Uruguay striker, told Argentina’s TyC Sports that his son had a “60% chance of joining a South American club” and would be inclined to play for Boca Juniors.
“There is nothing at all,” sources close to Cavani told ESPN. “Edinson is happy in Manchester. He considers United to be one of the great clubs in the world and he wants to enjoy the end of the season there, and only after that he will think about his future.”
After his father’s interview on Tuesday, Cavani posted a picture on Instagram of him celebrating a goal for United alongside a message in Spanish saying that he is “proud” to wear those colours.
United and Cavani have an option to add an additional year in the deal signed last October. If United decided to not execute the option, the club will have to pay him a €2 million release clause.
Sources told ESPN last week that United are keen to wait until Cavani has recovered from injury before making a decision about his future.
According to the sources, Cavani’s plan is to stay in Europe next season to compete in the top leagues ahead of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Cavani, 34, was upset after he was sanctioned by the FA with a three-game suspension earlier this season for using a racial term in a social media post since he considered the expression in Spanish — ‘Negrito’ — to be a word used in an affectionate way in his country.
His father confirmed Cavani’s feelings and that his son was unhappy with the treatment he received from the English football authorities. “That he was suspended for three games is nonsense,” Luis Cavani said. “Here we always use that word. We are not racists. Part of that is weighing on his decision.”