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Manchester United striker Edinson Cavani issues powerful Cristiano Ronaldo challenge
The veteran Manchester United striker is refusing to give up his fight for playing time against Cristiano Ronaldo.
Edinson Cavani has earned Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s trust after scoring 17 goals in his first season with the Red Devils.
However, things changed dramatically when Ronaldo returned to Manchester United and replaced Cavani as the club’s primary center-forward.
Ronaldo’s arrival quickly confirmed the narrative that Cavani is unhappy with his playing time being reduced to make room for the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.
Lifting the lid on the subject, the Uruguayan admitted that he and Ronaldo are competing for the position, and that he is not discouraged by the fact that he is competing against a bigger name.
“Those are things that happen, a lot of debate is created, but football is football and you don’t have to turn it around too much, it’s not because one or the other is there,” Cavani recently told El Observador.
“The important thing is to be prepared for when it’s your turn, you always want to play, [Ronaldo] he wants to be there forever, but that is not going to change my way of thinking or acting.
“In football, you have to always be ready,” he continued.
“It’s one of the keys at the top level. Sometimes you play more, sometimes you play less, managers make decisions, but that doesn’t stop the work to always be competitive.
“The league has just started and I have needed to be, not quite like last year, but I’m there to be a part of it.”
Solskjaer, on the other hand, acknowledged the need to “manage the players’ workload,” implying that there will be games in which Cavani, Ronaldo, or another striker will start.
“You make decisions throughout a long, long season and you’ve got to manage the players’ workload,” Solskjaer said when quizzed about dropping Ronaldo from his starting XI.
“The decision was, for me, the correct one. Anthony Martial did well, scored a good goal, Edinson [Cavani, who also came in] needed minutes, he got an hour, could have had a goal, a great cross and a great chance for him. We have to make those decisions sometimes.
“The target is exactly the same, it has to be the next game against West Ham, with the same mentality, commitment and after we will see but for me it is just one [match] at a time.”
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Manchester United striker Edinson Cavani issues powerful Cristiano Ronaldo challenge
