Edinson Cavani was in Paris on Monday to finalize his transfer to Paris Saint-Germain, with sources close to the deal saying his 64 million euro (US$84 million) price tag would break the French record.
The 26-year-old SSC Napoli forward, who was the top scorer in Serie A last season with 29 goals, landed in Paris on Monday morning, before heading to a top city hotel to undergo a medical.
PSG later announced they would hold a press conference at 4pm yesterday, suggesting the medical had been passed and a contract could be signed either Monday night or yesterday.
Photo: AFP
Cavani is expected to sign a five-year deal, according to sources.
Late morning, outgoing PSG sporting director Leonardo was seen leaving the luxury hotel with an adviser of the Uruguay international, who is nicknamed the Matador.
Should the South American sign a contract with the French champions, he will line up alongside his former Napoli teammate Ezequiel Lavezzi of Argentina.
The current French Ligue 1 transfer record was set earlier this year when Colombia international forward Radamel Falcao signed for AS Monaco from Atletico Madrid for a figure estimated at nearly 60 million euros.
Although Monaco have hogged the transfer headlines in France this summer, with billionaire Russian owner Dmitry Rybolovlev spending about 140 million euros in a bid to challenge the reigning champions, PSG have now signaled their intention not to be left behind in the big spending stakes.
Meanwhile, the capital-based club sought to silence rumors that have been swirling in the Catalan sporting press since last week about the possible departure of the Brazil international centerback Thiago Silva to Barcelona.
“Thiago is a PSG player. He has a contract and he will respect it. The rumours are the same as the ones last year, but Thiago Silva is a PSG player and he’ll see out his contract with his club,” Silva’s agent, Paulo Tonieto, was quoted as saying on PSG’s official Web site.
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