Striker bolts Napoli for PSG to cap 5-year, $84-million megadeal

Edinson Cavani was officially unveiled as Paris Saint-Germain's latest superstar signing on Tuesday when the striker joined the French champion for a Ligue 1 record 64 million euros ($84 million) from Napoli.

The 26-year-old Uruguay international, Serie A's top scorer last season with 29 goals, signed a five-year contract with Laurent Blanc's expensively-assembled Qatari-backed side.

The deal makes Cavani the fourth most expensive player in history, behind Cristiano Ronaldo, who moved from Manchester United to Real Madrid in 2009 for 94 million euros, Zinedine Zidane and Kaka.

The previous highest French transfer was set earlier this year when Colombia forward Radamel Falcao signed for Monaco from Atletico Madrid for a figure estimated at about 60 million euros.

"I'd like to thank everyone who made this transfer possible, it's a great project," a delighted Cavani, nicknamed 'The Matador,' said.

"I'd also like to thank the people in Napoli who went out of their way to make it possible," said the player who arrived in Europe in 2007 to play for Palermo.

"I come here with lots of joy, lots of confidence, lots of hunger and lots of motivation to win major trophies," he said.

"My message to everyone in this city and to the (PSG) fans is that I'm here with an enormous appetite to reach these aims."

Elaborating on why he chose PSG, Cavani said: "It's a very rich and very ambitious project, and I'm like that too. It's going to help me grow as a player.

"This club is one of the top sides in the world, it's one of a group of sides that can win the Champions League."

Sitting alongside him was PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, who said: "Everyone wanted him, but today he signed for us.

"He was the highest scorer in Italy; I hope he's going to do even better for us this coming season."

Al-Khelaifi went on to single out Leonardo, the club's outgoing sporting director, for his instrumental role in securing the services of the Serie A sharpshooter.

"A big thank you to Leo, he's done a great job here for the past two years," Al Khelaifi said.

This was the Brazilian's final act in his post before resigning from PSG as a result of the season-long ban he received this month for pushing a referee after PSG's league game against Valenciennes on May 5.

Leonardo, 43, was pivotal not only in Cavani's arrival at the Parc des Princes, but also the capture from Napoli's Serie A rival AC Milan of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva.

PSG's previous club record signing was Lucas Moura, the attacking midfielder who joined in January from Sao Paulo in a deal worth a reported 45 million euros.

With former coach Carlo Ancelotti, Leonardo used his Italian contacts to also raid Italy for the likes of goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu, defensive midfielder Marco Verratti, attacking midfielder Javier Pastore and forward Ezequiel Lavezzi.

Cavani's signing comes after a turbulent offseason for PSG with Leonardo's costly brush with authority and the protracted search - Blanc was far from top of the club's wish list - for a new coach to replace Ancelotti after the Italian's move to Real Madrid.

Yet despite all that. Al-Khelaifi, whose consortium has splashed out 315 million euros on players since taking over the club in 2011, insisted PSG's future is bright.

(China Daily 07/18/2013 page24)