Football
Ian Holyman, France correspondent 10y

Edinson Cavani coy on transfer links

Edinson Cavani has remained coy as to whether he would be open to a transfer this summer but hinted that Paris Saint-Germain are unwilling to let him go.

Cavani, 27, signed a five-year deal with PSG last summer after joining from Napoli for an estimated 64 million euros.

However, there have been claims he is unhappy at being played in a wide position to accommodate Zlatan Ibrahimovic in coach Laurent Blanc's 4-3-3 formation, and the Uruguay international has previously intimated he could leave the Parc des Princes.

Manchester United have been linked with a move for the forward, but he does not believe the French champions have any intention of selling him.

Asked how he copes with the rumours, he told El Observador: "Football is a sport in which trust is everything. When a club wants a player, they call and seek you out to add you to the project and to involve you. For the moment, they [PSG] have shown me maximum trust.

"I am calm each time they [the media] discuss my work. There is talk in all countries, but the truth is that it is the clubs that sought me out -- like Palermo, Napoli and PSG -- who did what they had to do and put their trust in me and had faith in my work to include me.

"I think that a change of club doesn't just depend upon the will of the player -- there also has to be movement from other clubs. I have a contract for four more years in France."

Cavani revealed he admires English and German football when asked which leagues he enjoys watching on television.

"I like the Premier League and Bundesliga very much, but I am not a player who wants to play only in one league or another at all times," he said. "Germany, Spain, Italy and England are the strongest and the best. Ligue 1 is very good as well -- it is growing."

He also said he was happy to play alongside Ibrahimovic, even if the dressing-room culture was different from that at Napoli.

"Being alongside Ibra is good," he said when asked about the Sweden international. "As long as there is no injustice with a fellow player in the dressing room and I have no problems with him, I don't get involved. I immerse myself in football with love and passion, and I have maintained it up until now.

"The only thing different is that now it is my work as well. I don't try to be disagreeable and I look for ways to accept the personalities of all my colleagues, some of whom may have a different character from mine. In these big dressing rooms, each person does his own thing.

"At Napoli, we had a compact dressing room because we didn't have the stars, and everything revolved around the manager to accomplish things. They are different experiences."

After being given extra time off following the World Cup, Cavani had been due to start preseason training on Monday.

However, though Italy international trio Thiago Motta, Salvatore Sirigu and Marco Verratti did return, the club announced on their official website that Cavani will now not team up with the rest of Blanc's squad until they begin their preseason tour of Asia next Saturday. France internationals Lucas Digne, Yohan Cabaye and Blaise Matuidi will also return then.

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