Edinson Cavani is in talks to sign for Villareal following his departure from Manchester United as a free agent.
Reports from Spanish outlet Marca as well as The Mirror report that a deal is close.
A return to South American had been mooted, however it now seems that Cavani is looking to re-establish himself at a European club ahead of the Qatar World Cup.
The striker had been close to a move to Fenerbahce SK, but a move to La Liga would mean that the striker would have played in four out of Europe’s five ‘big leagues’ with only the Bundesliga missing.
In Villareal’s case, any move would be dependent on Paco Alcacer as Villareal look to balance their forward line.
The Spanish striker has drawn interest from Celta Vigo who see him as an ideal partner for former Liverpool forward Iago Aspas.
Replacing Alcacer with Cavani would reunite the latter with Unai Emery, who enjoyed a fantastic return from the Uruguay international at Paris Saint-Germain.
He remains the French club’s all-time top goalscorer, with 200 goals in 301 appearances.
Cavani also managed 103 goals at SC Napoli during his time in Serie A, and while he may not reach quite so high a number in yellow, Emery would hope that he can continue his impressive goals-per-game ratio as the Submarines look to build on their impressive campaign last season.
Should he recapture his form from his first season at Old Trafford, in which he registered a goal every 137.2 minutes, he will no doubt endear himself to the Villareal faithful as he did with United fans.
However, while it is difficult to question Cavani’s commitment on the pitch, his complete lack of availability last season was very concerning.
An unending series of niggles kept him from playing more than 765 leagues minutes, although he did manage to clear up those issues just in time for international duty.
