Edinson Cavani is so determined to hit the ground running at Manchester United that he asked the club if he could make his debut in the side’s humiliating 6-1 defeat to Tottenham.
The Uruguayan is set to sign an initial one-year deal at Old Trafford and he was in Manchester this weekend to complete a medical with the club.
The 33-year-old’s move was not completed in time for Cavani to feature against Spurs and the former Paris Saint-Germain striker must have been questioning his decision to join the club as they were battered by Jose Mourinho’s side.
Nevertheless,The Times claim that Cavani asked to make his debut against Tottenham because he’s desperate to get going at Old Trafford.
The former Napoli star is PSG’s record scorer but his departure was low-key after he fell out of favour under Thomas Tuchel.
Cavani scored 200 goals in 301 appearances for the Ligue 1 side but his exit arrived with little fanfare and the report claims part of the striker’s determination to join United was that he could return to Paris when the two teams take on one another in the Champions League group stages.
United hope to announce a deal for Porto full-back Alex Telles alongside the capture of Cavani.
Telles is set to cost around £12m, with a further £3m arriving in achievable add-ons.
However, the two deals are unlikely to satisfy supporters after the club’s horrific start to the season.
United have just three points from their first three matches and they’ve been accused of making panic signings by moving for Cavani and Telles at such a late stage in the window.
The club had hoped to sign Jadon Sancho from Dortmund but a deal looks dead with less than 24 hours left before the deadline.
Ousmane Dembele is seen as a plan B and Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman confirmed on Sunday that the Frenchman could leave the club on deadline day.
Asked specifically about Dembele, Koeman said: ‘There are things that can happen but at the moment he is a Barcelona player.
‘There is one more day — players can enter or leave.’