A thread on Edinson Cavani; easily the most underrated and discredited elite striker in World Football.

Here is his legacy -

Cavani signed for Palermo in 2007 as a 19-year old kid. On his debut against Fiorentina, he scored THIS goal.

Palermo journalist, Roberto Gueli, - "He became an instant idol, despite the tactical setup not suiting his capabilities. Fans loved him. He would drift to the wings & go back to defend. Sometimes, he arrived at the goalmouth exhausted and missed chances but he kept growing."

In Cavani's 2nd full season at Palermo, he was club top scorer, hitting double figures. He scored 30 goals in 73 Games during his final 2 seasons. This made Napoli pay a €5m loan fee for him in 2010. There was a €12m buy clause. Palermo robbed themselves in advance.

Here's what Napoli were before Cavani's arrival.

Previous 3 seasons:
- 8th (07/08)
- 12th (08/09)
- 6th (09/10).

Top scorers in previous 3 seasons (all competitions):
- Lavezzi/Domizzi 11 (07/08)
- Hamsik 12 (08/09)
- Hamsik 12 (09/10).

Trophyless since 1991.

Here's what Napoli were in Cavani's 3 seasons.

League positions:
- 3rd (07/08)
- 5th (08/09)
- 2nd (09/10).

Top scorers in all competitions:
- Cavani 33
- Cavani 33
- Cavani 38.

Won Coppa Italia in 11/12. He was Coppa Italia top scorer. He scored in EVERY round + the final.

Nobody in Napoli's history had EVER scored 30 goals in a season before Edinson Cavani. He did it in ALL 3 of his seasons at the club. Nobody after him has done it twice.

In his 3 seasons, Napoli hit more Serie A points than they had EVER gotten. Cavani-Lavezzi-Hamsik was deadly.

Cavani hit 20+ league goals in his 3 seasons at Napoli and 30+ goals in all competitions in all three seasons.

He scored hattricks vs Juve, Inter, Roma, Milan, Lazio (twice) + braces against Fiorentina and Udinese.

That's every team that finished Top 7 in his 3 years at Napoli.

In Europe, Cavani scored 19 goals in 25 games for Napoli. His final season was crazy.

- 29 Goals in 34 Serie A games.
- 1 Goal in 1 Coppa Italia game.
- 7 Goals in 7 EL games.
- 1 Goal in 1 Supercoppa game.

Napoli finished 2nd in Serie A. Their highest since Maradona.

In their only CL season while he was there, Cavani had 5 Goals and 2 Assists in 8 CL games. Napoli played against Bayern, Chelsea, Villarreal, Man City that season. He scored against all except Bayern. Man City were his main victims - 3 goals in 2 games against them.

By the end of his Napoli stint, Cavani had scored 104 Goals in 134 Games...for underdogs. He finished Serie A top scorer in his final season and had made 3 consecutive Serie A Team of the Year lists in those 3 seasons. He also helped end Napoli's trophy drought.

In 2013, PSG signed Edinson Cavani. He had to play second fiddle to Zlatan for 3 years. In that time, he was forced out wide and his sharpness in front of goal suffered. In spite of that, he still hit, at least, 25 goals in those seasons. 25, 31 and 25 respectively.

In finals for PSG, Cavani has 11 Goals in 9 games.

Since fully returning to his real CF position for PSG (following Zlatan's departure), Cavani has scored 111 goals in 123 games. Add that to his Napoli tally as a CF, that's 215 Goals in 261 Games in his last 6 seasons as a CF.

Only 2 players have scored 30+ Goals in Ligue 1 in the last 41 years - Zlatan (twice) and Edinson Cavani.

In his best career season (16/17), Cavani scored:

- 35 Goals in 36 Ligue 1 Games.
- 6 Goals in 6 Cup Games.
- 8 Goals in 8 Champions League Games.

49 Goals in 50 Games.

Since fully returning to CF, Cavani has scored 17 Goals in 22 CL games for PSG.

His records:
- All-time Top Goalscorer for PSG
- All-time Ligue 1 Top Goalscorer for PSG
- French Ligue Cup All-time Top Goalscorer
- Most goals in European Competitions for PSG.

For the Uruguayan National Team, he is the 2nd all-time top scorer. He was top scorer in the CONMEBOL 2018 World Cup Qualifying section. He has scored at three different World Cups.

In the 2018 World Cup, he finally delivered the kind of performances expected of him for Uruguay.

All in all, Cavani has scored 25+ goals in his last 8 seasons (that first season at Napoli). He needs 3 more goals this season to make it 9 consecutive seasons. Since January 1, 2010, only Ronaldo and Messi have scored more goals than Edinson Cavani.

Cavani has also scored 30+ goals in 5 different seasons and 40+ goals in his last two seasons. He needs 8 more goals this season to make it 6 different seasons scoring 30+ goals. All these despite playing as a winger in 3 of the seasons in this period.

Cavani needs needs 8 more goals to reach 200 goals for PSG. So far, he has played 271 games. If he hits 40 goals again this season, he would have scored 40+ goals for the third straight year. If he wins the Ligue 1 Golden Boot, it will be his 3rd straight win.

Cavani has also won 20 trophies in his career, being a key player in most of those triumphs.

In his career, he has scored a goal every 129 minutes. This covers his 5 seasons developing pre-Napoli and his 3 seasons spent mostly as a winger at PSG. Impressive.

Edinson Cavani might not get love from people all over but he will always get love from me. A truly special player at his best, I personally rate him as a Top 2 striker of his generation. Sucks that he spent 3 years during what should have been his prime years out of position.

Batistuta was your idol and he inspired you until you reached these heights. I want you to know that you inspire many others. I'm proud of you. Happy birthday, @ECavaniOfficial.

*Here's what Napoli were in Cavani's 3 seasons.

League positions:
- 3rd (10/11)
- 5th (11/12)
- 2nd (12/13).