Real Madrid Transfers: Here is the only way Edinson Cavani could possibly join

Real Madrid currently have three out-and-out strikers on their books, in addition to a couple of players who could fulfill No. 9 duties in a pinch. Karim Benzema is arguably the best striker on the planet and has certainly had the best start to the season of anyone.

Behind him, Luka Jovic is a talented young man despite his lack of goals in a Madrid shirt. Then, there is Mariano Diaz, whom the club has been trying to offload for more than a year. Eden Hazard, Rodrygo Goes, and Marco Asensio could conceivably be emergency options.

There is no reason to believe that Madrid are in the market for another striker. Fatigue could eventually hit the prolific Benzema, as this is his first season balancing France national team duties with his usual excellence in Madrid. But even so, Jovic is more than capable of filling in.

If Real Madrid do decide to go after a veteran striker, Edinson Cavani would be available. And his camp recently expressed that a move to Real Madrid is possible.

An Edinson Cavani transfer to Real Madrid is unlikely

The former Napoli and PSG legend is currently plying his craft at Manchester United, where he impressed last season as the main striker option. Cavani has fallen down the pecking order since Cristiano Ronaldo reunited with the Red Devils, so Cavani could be looking for another high-profile move this winter.

Madridistas have been tracking the transfer rumors linking Cavani to Real, which likely quietly started from his agents anyway. Cavani does not seem like a realistic option for Los Merengues at this point in time, but, as his entourage expressed, anything is possible in football.

For a Cavani transfer to happen, one of two things would need to take place. Real Madrid would either have to finally find a destination for Mariano Diaz, who has resisted a transfer or loan move due to a possible salary cut, or they would have to loan or sell Luka Jovic.

Last winter, Jovic moved back to Eintracht Frankfurt for six months, where he started off hot but then settled into a backup role behind star striker Andre Silva. The loan move was, essentially, a waste of time. Jovic has fought to stay at Madrid and resisted any moves this past summer. There is no reason to believe he would want a move this winter either. And would Real want to loan or sell him just to replace him with Cavani? Although Cavani has the experience and does all the little things wonderfully, Jovic is still a future star.

Mariano leaving to make space for Cavani is a possibility. But there are two problems here. Firstly, Cavani and Jovic would still be in the same squad. Would Real sign Cavani to be Jovic’s backup? That is doubtful. So then, would they keep Jovic as a third-stringer and watch him waste away for six more months? I would hope not. And, of course, the second problem is that Mariano is extremely difficult to move.

So it may all come down to Jovic, who is seemingly valued by Carlo Ancelotti (though nobody knows how true that actually is) and has definitely not been keen on moving from Real Madrid. If that’s the case, I would file Cavani under a highly unlikely transfer, perhaps moreso because the logistics don’t make sense, as opposed to him not being a legitimate backup option with experience.