Abhranil Roy
Chinese clubs have spent billions in the last transfer window, and Argentinian winger Ezequiel Lavezzi was the latest on the list of players who made their way to the Far East for a 26.5 million pounds deal from Paris Saint-Germain. The Argentinian, who is also known as “El Pocho”, now admitted after the big money move that he could have gone to Inter Milan, Chelsea or Manchester United in January, but chose the money over everything else which would probably also end his chances of getting called up to The Albicelestes squad again.
Playing Style:
The Italian club Napoli was where Lavezzi made his name after he joined them for a 6 million pound transfer in 2007 from San Lorenzo. Lavezzi soon made an impact for the club by scoring a hat-trick in a 3–1 victory over Pisain the Coppa Italia at the Stadio San Paolo; this was the first hat-trick by a Napoli player in 14 years. The first league goal Lavezzi scored for Napoli came during a 5–0 victory againstUdineseon 2 September 2007. After the match, he was described in reports as “inspirational,” with the media proclaiming, “Napoli’s star is born.”The Neapolitan club hadn’t won a league match by such a large margin since 1988 when Diego Maradona was at the club.
Along with Edinson Cavani and Hamsik, Lavezzi became a part of Napoli’s Holy Trinity as the club continued to impress and punch above their weight in the league as well as in Europe. In 2012, they beat the mighty Chelsea 3-1 at the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16. ESPN described Lavezzi as being “excellent at roaming and finding space in the gap between the opposition’s midfield and defence. He has excellent pace and crossing ability and is also adept at beating an opponent or drawing a foul in dangerous areas. He is considered a quality player physically, tactically and technically.”
Why wouldn’t he be a great fit at United?
Manchester United do not have a dearth of either wingers or supporting strikers, as we have Juan Mata, Wayne Rooney, Jesse Lingard, Memphis Depay, Ashley Young and Adnan Januzaj all vying for either one of those positions. So not only would he be a tactical misfit, Lavezzi would also find himself in a squad which is struggling to return to its former swagger. As the case with Angel di Maria might teach you, most of these South Americans do not exactly have the temperament to cope with such pressure and criticism, and despite a big money move, the former Estudiantes star would probably leave within a season or two. For all these reasons, I think the United Board made the correct decision of not pushing forward for this tattooed striker.
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