Manchester United should steer clear of Edinson Cavani... Louis van Gaal won't want to make Radamel Falcao mistake again 

• Edinson Cavani struggled in both legs for PSG against Barcelona
• Uruguayan striker's scoring record in Ligue 1 isn't what it should be
• Louis van Gaal prefers to work with young talent and Cavani is 28
• Radamel Falcao has struggled at Manchester United after signing on loan
• Cavani says he wants to stay at PSG and he may not have much choice
• Van Gaal identifies Ilkay Gundogan as replacement for Michael Carrick

By Mike Keegan For Mailonline

Published: 05:43 EST, 22 April 2015 | Updated: 08:20 EST, 22 April 2015

Edinson Cavani's slumbering Champions League performance against Barcelona may well have put to bed any chance of him making a switch to Manchester United.

The chances of the Uruguayan filling what would appear to be a looming striker void at Old Trafford have always been slim.

For a start, at 28 he would appear to be too old for Louis van Gaal, who prefers to work with young talent he can mould into his type of player.

Edinson Cavani falls flat on his face during a limp display for PSG against Barcelona on Tuesday night

Manchester United have been linked with Cavani but the striker hasn't impressed this season

Radamel Falcao has struggled at Manchester United after signing on loan from Ligue 1 side Monaco

Barcelona 2-0 PSG: Neymar Jnr vs Edinson Cavani head to head

And the painful, expensive experience of Radamel Falcao's nightmare loan spell will have made the club's Dutch manager wary of seemingly-fading South Americans.

But United, who have cash to burn and gaps to fill, will have kept a close eye on Tuesday night's events at the Nou Camp to see if Cavani still had what it takes.

On the evidence of a sterile 90 minutes in an inevitable 2-0 defeat he does not.

There is mitigation – Barcelona look unstoppable and few in Europe can live with Luis Enrque's resurgent treble hunters.

Questions over Cavani's domestic form, however, still linger.

France's Ligue 1 is not the Premier League or La Liga and after making the £55m move from Napoli, where he was almost unplayable, Cavani has not been the prolific force officials at Parc des Princes hoped for.

This season he has played 32 times in domestic competitions and has scored 11 goals, although six more have come in the Champions League.

Louis van Gaal prefers to work with younger players and may have been put off Cavani by Falcao's spell

The Uruguayan hasn't scored as many goals as he should have done in the French league

PSG will now concentrate on winning a two-horse race with Lyon at the top of the table (they are currently level on points with a game in hand) and will look to Cavani along with Zlatan Ibrahimovic to fire them over the line first.

Following the 3-1 first leg defeat by Barcelona on home soil the man himself maintained he wants to see out the remainder of his contract in France.

'There is too much talk about my future but I will remain here,' he told Sky Italia.

'I will respect my contract and I'm only focusing on doing well for PSG.'

He may have few options to do anything else. 

Cavani argues with the referee during PSG's 2-0 (5-1 agg) defeat in the Champions League quarter-finals

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