Uruguay veteran Edison Cavani departs Boca Juniors

Veteran Uruguayan striker Edinson Cavani has announced his departure from Boca Juniors after almost three years, bringing an injury-hit spell at the Argentine giants to an end.

The 39-year-old former Paris Saint-Germain, Napoli and Manchester United forward confirmed his exit in a video posted on Instagram on Wednesday, a day after local media reported he was set to terminate his contract with the club.

"I'll never regret making the decision to come here in 2023, when I signed to fulfil a dream I had of playing for this club," Cavani said in the farewell message, which was filmed on the pitch at La Bombonera.

The former Uruguay international officially rescinded his contract, despite originally being tied to Boca until the end of 2026.

Cavani did not figure in the plans of new Boca coach Rodolfo Arruabarrena and has been continuing his recovery from a persistent lower back injury that limited him to only a handful of minutes during the first half of this year.

"As a coach of mine once taught me, the journey is the reward. And the journey has been magnificent," Cavani said, without announcing his retirement from club football.

"I thank everyone at Boca. I'll never stop wishing you all the best and supporting the club wherever I am."

Known as "El Matador," Cavani is Uruguay's second all-time leading scorer with 58 goals in 136 appearances before calling time on his international football career two years ago.

He leaves Boca without winning a trophy, despite arriving in July 2023 to huge fanfare after ending a 17-year career in Europe with Valencia. Thousands of supporters packed La Bombonera for his unveiling, hoping one of world football's most prolific strikers could restore the club to glory.

Instead, recurring injuries prevented him from making the impact many had expected.

Cavani admitted there had been "difficult moments" that stopped him from "leaving a mark" on the club.

The striker also described the back injury that sidelined him for much of the past few months as one of the hardest moments of his career.

"Today I have to face a situation that I never thought would be so difficult. It even left me without the chance to compete alongside my team-mates. It's one of the greatest sadnesses I've experienced in my career," he said.

His final appearance for Boca came on February 15 in a goalless draw against Racing, after which his physical problems prevented him from returning.

Hampered by those recurring injuries, Cavani made 81 appearances for the Xeneize, completing the full 90 minutes only 27 times while scoring 28 goals. Several high-profile missed chances also proved costly in defeats and eliminations from major competitions.

Boca club president Juan Román Riquelme had described Cavani as "the greatest player in the history of Argentine football" and hailed him as one of the leading goal-scorers of his generation, but the club never saw the same prolific forward who excelled across Europe.

After emerging at Danubio in his native Uruguay, Cavani starred for Palermo and Napoli before spending seven seasons at Paris Saint-Germain, where he won six Ligue 1 titles as well as five French Cups, four French Super Cups and six French League Cups.

He later spent two seasons at Manchester United before finishing his European career with Valencia.

His honours also include the Coppa Italia with Napoli and the Uruguayan league title with Danubio.

– TIMES/AFP