Monday, 24th June, 2013

Striker Edinson Cavani has been given less than a month to finalise his future destination, or risk incurring the wrath of Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis.

Cavani has been the subject of intense speculation this summer with Chelsea, Manchester City and Real Madrid the most high-profile suitors.



He is currently on duty with Uruguay at the Confederations Cup but remained an unused substitute, owing to a booking, in their 8-0 thrashing of minnows Tahiti last night.

Cavani himself is keeping quiet on his future, but did express admiration for Real Madrid in an apparent come-and-get-me plea earlier this month.

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His €63m release clause could prove a stumbling block with De Laurentiis having indicated that Manchester City were unwilling to part with that much cash.

It remains to be seen if Napoli boss Rafael Benitez can convince Cavani to stay on – his contract expires in 2017 – but De Laurentiis is taking a slightly different approach.

With a hint of humour about, De Laurentiis told Radio Rai: "I think that the Cavani ‘soap opera’ will come to an end on 20th July, which is when he returns from the Confederations Cup. If it doesn’t, I’ll rip his head off.

“Does anyone think that I’ll let Cavani leave on 10th August, with the league campaign about to kick off?"

However, for the man who scored 29 goals in 34 league games this season, there remains some hope that he will continue his stay at the Serie A club.

"I trust in Cavani", De Laurentiis added. "I think that he’s a good man and he has the opportunity to prove it by staying at Napoli."

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