By Oyinlola Awonuga (The New Diplomat’s Entertainment Fashion and Sports Desk)
Edinson Cavani and club captain Thiago Silva will leave Paris Saint-Germain this summer.
This was announced by PSG’s sporting director and 1994 FIFA World Cup winner with Brazil Leonardo in a chat with Le Journal du Dimanche.
Cavani, 33, and Silva, 35, are both out of contract in June but will remain with the club until the season is fully completed as PSG are in the last eight of the Champions League.
PSG were awarded the Ligue 1 title after the season was ended due to the coronavirus outbreak with 11 matches to play.
“It was a really difficult decision to take. Thiago Silva and Edinson Cavani are players who have had a big impact on this club’s history,” said Leonardo.
“You always wonder if you should carry on down the same path together or if it’s better to avoid a scenario where you’ve stayed for one year too many.
“It’s been such a wonderful journey, but we’re coming to the end. We had to make a logical decision, both in financial terms and also considering the next generation of players coming through.
“Maybe it’s the wrong decision, I don’t know. There’s never a perfect moment. The Champions League is still on the agenda and the plan is to remain in the competition with them until the end of August.”
Cavani, the club’s all-time leading scorer with 200 goals who joined from Napoli in 2013, has been attracting interest from Atletico Madrid and David Beckham’s MLS franchise Inter Miami within the last six months.
Atletico were unable to reach an agreement with PSG for Cavani in January, despite the Spanish club increasing their offer to £15m, with PSG valuing him at £25m.
Inter Miami also held discussions over a proposed deal for the striker before their debut MLS season earlier this year.
Managing owner Jorge Mas told Newsmen: “We have had conversations about Cavani, but I don’t want to make any comments further than that based on that he is a PSG player at the time.”
Silva joined PSG from AC Milan alongside Zlatan Ibrahimovic in 2012.
Leandro also stated he wants Thomas Meunier, Layvin Kurzawa and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting to remain at the club and says that there will be discussions over the next couple of months.
