Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer drops hint on Edinson Cavani’s future with decision close

Cavani signed one-year contract at Old Trafford with option of a further year

Manchester United striker Edinson Cavani (Manchester United via Getty Images)

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has hinted that Edinson Cavani is close to reaching a decision on whether to stay at Manchester United for another year, in his clearest indication yet that the 34-year-old striker will remain at Old Trafford.

Cavani signed a one-year contract with United back in October, with the option to extend for a further year, and has proved to be a success with 14 goals in his 34 appearances.

The Uruguayan scored twice against Roma on Thursday night in a 3-2 defeat which nevertheless saw United win 8-5 on aggregate to reach the Europa League final in Gdansk later this month.

Doubts over Cavani's future spread in March when his father Luis said that the former Paris Saint-Germain striker wished to return to South America to be closer to his family.

United have held discussions with Cavani over the past few months in an attempt to persuade him to stay in Manchester, while Solskjaer has said that the decision lies with the player.

Reports last week suggested that Cavani has decided to stay put for at least another year and Solskjaer indicated that an announcement is close on Thursday night, hinting that the situation had "changed".

"We don’t have time limit [on Cavani's decision], but the more goals he scores, the better we become as a team, the bigger the chance is that he'll want to have this feeling again," the United manager said.

"Let’s talk after Sunday again hopefully. Maybe it's changed, maybe he’s decided, maybe."

United travel to play Aston Villa on Sunday which will be their second game in a gruelling spell of four matches in eight days, with last weekend's postponed meeting with Liverpool rescheduled for next Thursday.

Solskjaer is unhappy with the fixture pile-up, describing United's schedule as "impossible", and said he will have to heavily rotate his players over the course of the next three games.

"I’ve got to think about my players but I know there will be teams fighting for the Champions League places that will not think that's Man United's best team in that team, that's not the best players," he said.

"I can promise you that its impossible to play 90 minutes at this intensity, at that level in the Premier League four times from Thursday to Thursday. That means I cannot play everyone every minute which means we've got to prioritise."