Chelsea Transfer Rumours: Blues Must Not Lose out on Edinson Cavani

Manchester City and Chelsea are both reportedly hot on the trail of Napoli striker Edinson Cavani, and Chelsea can't afford to lose out in this race. 

Cavani is a natural finisher. He has a cannon for a leg and is good in the air too. He has great ball skills and can finish in a variety of ways. And, at 26, he has a ton of great soccer in front of him.

It is no surprise that he is drawing so much high-profile attention, and he definitely is.

Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has stated that negotiations with Manchester City have begun, according to ESPN, who report Real Madrid is also interested.

Chelsea, according to CNN Italian sports correspondent Tancredi Palmeri, is trying to land the Uruguayan's services:

This is no surprise given that reported new Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho, per The Sun's Rob Beasley, also wants it to happen according to Palmeri.

Meanwhile, all of this while Cavani and his agent say he's happy with Napoli. 

Obviously, landing Cavani is not going to be an easy task, but it is an essential one. The Blues finished a solid third last year, but it's not like this proud organization will be content with that.

Besides the fact that Chelsea would benefit by ensuring Cavani wouldn't go to the offensively starved Manchester City squad, the Blues need someone on their attack who can create in space, and Cavani can do that. 

It is time for Fernando Torres to move on, and he happens to be a target of Napoli according to the Daily Mirror. Cavani would be a huge upgrade.

There will be questions of Cavani's fit in Chelsea's tight system, but let's not forget that Mourinho wants him, and the Portuguese is not the kind of guy to after something if he doesn't have a vision for it.

With Juan Mata creating opportunities from the midfield and Eden Hazard posing a threat on the outside, Cavani would get space to work with, and he would produce.

His acquisition would help give Chelsea the firepower they need to improve on that third-place finish.