Uruguay are expecting to have Cavani available, despite the recent Premier League restrictions
In a week where, to put it lightly, quite a lot is going on in the world of football, the news that Edinson Cavani is the subject of a good old-fashioned club-versus-country tug of war might easily have been missed.
The 34-year-old has yet to feature for Manchester United this season after being given an extended summer break after his involvement in the Copa America. Now, there’s a genuine possibility he will miss as many as eight United games in the weeks ahead – if he chooses to ignore the recent travel ban Premier League clubs have announced for the upcoming international break.
An emergency meeting was held by Premier League clubs earlier in the week. In it, it was agreed that clubs would block the release of players to red list countries, due to the need for the players to to quarantine for 10 days on their return.
The move has not gone down well with various international federations and FIFA, who have appealed to the UK government to grant exemptions to players. The request looks set to be rejected.
Despite this, many South American federations are making plans to have all their Premier League-based players available to them.
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Reports in Uruguay have claimed Cavani will be with his national side for next week’s international break despite the Premier League’s stance, with the player’s travel arrangements to return to South America having already been finalised.
Cavani expressed his surprise at the Premier League imposing restrictions with a post on his Instagram which included a screenshot of the statement to which he had added “???”.
Should Cavani choose to ignore the restrictions and fly to South America for the September games, he would be forced to miss Premier League games against Newcastle United and West Ham due to quarantining on his return – as well as a League Cup game with West Ham. United are due to play Aston Villa on September 25, which he could also miss having spent 10 days locked away.
Assuming there is no change to the current restrictions, the former PSG man could also miss further games if he travels back for the October international break. This would see him miss league games against Leicester and Liverpool.
United’s involvement in the Champions League group stages mean he would also be unavailable for two European games, too.
