I desperately want him to stay – Ralf Rangnick on Edison Cavani’s future

Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick has revealed that he wants veteran striker Edison Cavani to stay at the club despite his transfer reports. Cavani has been linked to Barcelona and other South American clubs in the recent past and it would be interesting to note the player’s final call.

Cavani is a pivotal cog in Manchester United’s wheel and he has been a consistent performer for the team. However, the Uruguay international hasn’t received a lot of opportunities since the team signed the likes of Jadon Sancho and Cristiano Ronaldo.

“We had quite a few conversations in the last couple of weeks, probably the player with whom I have spoken most,” Rangnick said. “I told him from the very first day that, for me, he is a highly important player.

“And, as I said, his professionalism, his work ethic is just amazing and I told him that I desperately want him to stay until the end of the season. He knows that. He also knows how highly I rate him and how highly I respect him. We spoke and he knows that I will definitely not let him go.

“For me, he is a highly important player for the rest of the season, still playing in three competitions, so we will definitely need Edi. I would rather have another Edi on top of that but for me, it’s clear that Edi has to stay.”

On the other hand, Netherlands’ Donny van dee Beek is also associated with other clubs in the upcoming transfer window as he isn’t getting a lot of changes in the starting XI of the team. The midfielder had started in only four matches in the previous season while once again he has received only four opportunities to be in the starting XI across all competitions in the ongoing season.

Rangnick revealed that Beek wants to stay at the club and he is looking forward to more game time.

“He’s a team player through and through and there will be games where he will get his chance to play I’m sure,” Rangnick said. “I also had a longer conversation with him last week about that and, again, of course it’s difficult for him right now because he also wants to play for the Dutch national team.

“He wants to qualify for himself and play in the World Cup in Qatar and in order to do that he needs to get game time here. But I still believe that we should keep him, that he should stay here, definitely until the end of this season and try to get as much game-time as he possibly can.”

Meanwhile, Rangnick had earlier revealed that striker Anthony Martial wants to leave the club in the transfer window. Manchester United will next host Wolves on Monday at Old Trafford.