Back a few years ago, Napoli used to have a superstar. Well, not exactly super, but definitely a star. They built their team around him and through this Uruguyan, they managed to make it into the top three of the Serie A and consequently got to test themselves with Europe's elite.
Edinson "The Vamp" Cavani.
He really made his name with Napoli back when it was him, Lavezzi and Hamsik who formed an exciting three-pronged attack. Hamsik was the natural midfielder who brought the ball from the congestion of the pitch in order to setup the attacks, then you had Lavezzi who was the smaller and more nimble attacker who made those quick darting runs. Finally, there was Cavani who was the attacking totem-pole. The man in the penalty box whose main function was to finish. However, he was more than merely a target man, which is what made him so desired.
Cavani was great at finishing off crosses, scoring tap-ins, volleys and hustling in ricochets. But when Lavezzi decided to take his talents to Paris, Cavani showed there was more to his game. With there being more pressure on him to take up the attacking workload that Lavezzi had now vacated, Cavani played all aspects of the pitch.
You could find him in the box, or on the wing, sometimes even in midfied linking up the play. Despite being required to do more, it did not diminish the amount of goals he was able to shift.
With Napoli not being able to get more names, Cavani had to follow the Lavezzi route in order to seek glory. The idea was being part of the PSG project, he would finally get his chance to lift up one of the most coveted trophies in club football. That was why the very expensive team was assembled, in order to be a new force in Europe.
Sadly, he didn't account for Blanc or Ibrahimovic restricting the kind of infleunce he would be able to have in attack.
So now we're in December 2015 and PSG don't look like they will be winning the Champions League any time soon and Napoli are reborn. The club from Naples are playing some of the best football you will see in Europe, and they are right in the title race. You only have to wonder what kind of strike partnership that Cavani would have formed with Higuain. I can tell you now, it would have worked out a lot better than his relationship with the Swedish karate master.
Cavani and Ibrahimovic are just too similar, and so PSG don't get the best out of either of them. It can only be either one or the other. Both can't play at the same time as they negate one another, but it's really Cavani who has suffered the most since Ibra is seen as the bigger star. So Edinson is like that unwanted friend who's linked with the family, and so you are forced to bring them along or else mama will spank you four times and twice on Sunday.
On the flip side, Cavani and Higuain would work a treat. They both have different styles to their play, and with Cavani being a great box-striker, this gives Higuain an option if he's surrounded by defenders. Now, when he gets squeezed and outnumbered, he has to push the ball out wide to Insigne. If Cavani was up in the mix, he has a choice, and this makes Napoli less predictable and more dangerous because of more attacking options.
The PSG affair hasn't worked out for Cavani. He'll deny it and convince himself that he's happy in Paris. But he has to be feeling slighlty envious of the way Napoli are looking now, and how passionate the fans are in Naples. Winning Ligue 1 doesn't mean much if you are called PSG, the country's capital club. It's what is expected from one of France's biggest clubs. But for his Italian Ex from Naples, winning the Scudetto would mean so much more.
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