NEW Manchester United signing Edinson Cavani is a goalscorer like Alan Shearer on the pitch.
But when he's not hitting the target, the 33-year-old is more of a sheep shearer – who loves farming
The Uruguayan international – who is also a keen ballet dancer – has been a prolific goalscorer throughout his career, including netting 200 in 301 appearances for Paris Saint-Germain.
When the Ligue 1 season finished early due to the pandemic, Cavani returned home to his native Uruguay where he helped out on a farm.
A video doing the rounds online shows him confidently shaving the wool from a sheep and it's clear that it isn't his first rodeo.
And it doesn't come as a surprise after when asked what he would do if he wasn't a footballer.
Cavani responded: "I'd work on a farm, I'd be a farmer."
In slightly more elegant surroundings, Cavani also revealed his interest in dancing and showed off his skills during a training session with Uruguay’s National Ballet School.
And it was clear from footage he posted on social media he wasn’t just there to make up the numbers, as he won applause from professional dancers with a daring pirouette after donning tight-fitting lycra and putting his long hair in a bun.
Cavani, whose move to Old Trafford was confirmed yesterday, strutted his stuff on the stage after agreeing to star in an ad to encourage more boys into ballet and help his homeland discover hidden Billy Elliots.
The 33-year-old dad-of-three, whose current partner Jocelyn Burgardt is a dancer, said: “Football and dance are much more alike than people imagine.
“Both begin as practice, but over time they can become a source of work or a career that can develop in many ways.
“In both you have to be 100 per cent professional. You have to train, you have to eat well, rest and listen to those who have more experience.”
Cavani, who has scored 40 goals for Uruguay in 98 games, said ‘yes’ to backing a campaign to get more boys dancing after his country’s national ballet school Sodre wrote to him asking for his support.
Sodre vice-president Adela Debra, said: “Edinson’s support was a great encouragement for those boys who suffer the typical joke of relatives who laugh at the fact they’ve taken up ballet.
“When they’re around nine years old many parents take the few boys that start ballet out of it because of pressure from family and friends.”
Man United confirmed yesterday it had signed Cavani on a one-year contract with the option to extend for a further year.
He joined just hours ahead of the transfer deadline after becoming a free agent over the summer following a seven-year stint with PSG.
The striker said in a message published on the club website: “Manchester United is one of the greatest clubs in the world, so it is a real honour to be here. I’ve worked really hard during the time off and I feel eager to compete and represent this incredible club.
“I have played in front of some of the most passionate supporters in football during my career and I know that it will be the same in Manchester. I cannot wait to experience the Old Trafford atmosphere, when it is safe for the fans to return.
“I look forward to continuing to write my little story inside the book of football and I know that’s why my focus has to remain the same as always – work, work, work. I have had a conversation with the manager and this has increased my desire to wear this beautiful shirt.”
It is not yet clear if Cavani will make the move to the UK alone or with partner Jocelyn Burgardt and their daughter India, who turned one in May.
He has two sons called Bautista and Lucas from his relationship with former wife and childhood sweetheart Maria Soledad Cabris.
They split in 2014 after allegations of infidelity levelled against the footballer shortly after the birth of Lucas.
Their marriage was blown apart after the publication of a photo while Cavani was playing for Naples, showing him with his arms round a young Italian journalist named at the time as Maria Rosario Ventrone.
Maria Soledad was quoted at the time in Italian press as saying: “Edinson has betrayed God, the God he strongly believes in. He’s betrayed his family.”
The star couple’s subsequent divorce was heavily played out in the Uruguayan press. After his split from Maria Soledad, Cavani insisted: “A divorce is always difficult. It’s a failure. But I’m divorcing my wife, not my children.
“I’ve always behaved in a clear and unmistakable way towards them. I’ve always fulfilled my obligations towards them and will make sure they have all they need now and in the future.”
Cavani’s romance with Ventrone was short-lived and she blasted him after their split by claiming in an interview: “He left me nine months after we started living together. He was very jealous, almost possessive and I still don’t know why we finished.”
The striker is said to have met his current partner through Uruguayan footballer Gaston Ramirez.
Jocelyn Burgardt was first linked to Cavani in 2014. The model and dancer has starred regularly in the annual carnival which takes place in Bella Union, a Uruguayan city in the country’s Artigas region.
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