Diego Forlan has suggested Manchester United would be in a much better position had they been able to call upon the services of Edinson Cavani more regularly this season.
The Uruguayan international, who is set to leave Old Trafford at the end of this season when his contract expires, has been plagued by injury issues this term, restricting him to just 17 appearances in all competitions. He has made 12 appearances in the Premier League and scored just two goals across all competitions.
He was handed a route back into the team by interim manager Ralf Rangnick for the 1-1 draw with Burnley last month, being handed a surprise start ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo. However, he immediately found himself injured again, missing the next five league games.
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He returned to the squad against Tottenham Hotspur, appearing as a late substitute, before fulfilling the same duty against Atletico Madrid last week. Whilst injury issues have hampered his season, Cavani, who is currently away with the Uruguay squad on international duty, has frustrated the club at times with his fitness troubles.
When fit and firing, however, he is a hugely experienced player capable of performing to high standards. And former United man Forlan believes the United may have missed a trick by not offering him more opportunities when available for selection.
Forlan, as quoted by the Mirror, said: "I think at United if he had the opportunity to play many games in a row, he would have been scoring many many important goals for the club. He did that last season if you remember.
"At the end he was playing many games before the Europa League final and you could see in the way that many people were behind him, players and the way he took the team to the next level. Why? Because he was playing most of the games. This season he started the season injured and then he didn't play for one reason or another which I don't know."
Cavani's first season at United saw him net 17 goals in 39 appearances, making it fairly easy for the club to decide to offer him a new contract. However, he has failed to appear in more than four consecutive Premier League games this season, with injury troubles hampering his progress.
With that in mind, Forlan, who played for United between 2002 and 2004, has outlined it can be hard for a player to deliver the goods when not getting a consistent run of regular opportunities.
"He never played two or three games in a row and it is difficult for a player to perform well if he doesn't have many games," Forlan added. "Edinson has been a very professional player, very strong physically and you saw just why he was signed towards the end of last season."
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