PSG Director Expresses Regret Over Edinson Cavani & Thiago Silva Exits

Paris Saint-Germain sporting director Leonardo has admitted it is possible the club made a mistake by letting veteran stars Edinson Cavani and Thiago Silva leave Parc des Princes, joining Manchester United and Chelsea respectively on free transfers.

Cavani and Silva were each out of contract at the end of last season. Cavani left as early as June after failing to agree a temporary extension for the Champions League mini-tournament, while Silva stayed until late August and played his last PSG game in the club’s first Champions League final.

Thiago Silva has already made an impact at Chelsea / Marc Atkins/Getty Images

Silva was announced as a Chelsea player less than a week after the final in Lisbon and has since made a significant impact at Stamford Bridge. He has improved the defence no end and is even nominated for October’s Premier League Player of the Month award.

Cavani, meanwhile, was without a club for over two months until he emerged as an emergency target for United in the final days of the summer transfer window. His lack of football has meant a slower start in Manchester, although he scored his first goal last weekend.

But despite letting them both leave, Leonardo is beginning to wonder if PSG should have done more to keep the veterans, whose combined age is 69, a little longer.

“At one moment, we have to say, ‘What are we going to do?’” the 1994 World Cup winner explained in an interview with PSG’s in-house media this week.

Silva & Cavani are both PSG legends / Aurelien Meunier/Getty Images

“We spoke clearly with them. It was a moment where we could not give them exactly what they wanted. It was a financial and generational problem. The decisions were difficult to take. Aside from that, we could have made a mistake.”

PSG wanted both players to remain, but the money in question and their advancing ages made it less straightforward than simply handing the pair a new contract each.

Cavani is thought to have landed a £200,000 per week deal at United, which is significantly less than the £360,000 terms he was reported to have in Paris. Silva’s Chelsea salary has been estimated in similar territory and he too was on much more at PSG.

Money was a factor in PSG letting their veterans go / Pool/Getty Images

Silva captained PSG to seven Ligue 1 titles in eight years at the club, including four domestic trebles in that time. Cavani is the club’s all-time top scorer with 200 goals in 301 appearances.

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