Chinese Super League outfit Guangzhou Evergrande have denied reports suggesting that they've made a bid for Paris Saint-Germain's prolific striker Edinson Cavani.
The 31-year-old has been in superb form this season, picking up ten goals in eleven domestic appearances as PSG ended 2018 on a high with a 1-0 home win over Nantes on Saturday.
Italian media outlets claimed that the seven-time CSL champions Evergrande are leading the chase for the signature of Cavani and the Uruguayan star's arrival in China would be a major coup for head coach Fabio Cannavaro who is keen to bolster his attacking options.
Napoli are also said to be interested in luring Cavani back to Serie A, while Atletico Madrid, who are hunting for a solution to their attacking woes, are reportedly considering making an offer for the PSG talisman.
Edinson Cavani is Paris Saint-Germain's all-time leading goalscorer, netting 183 goals for the club. /VCG Photo
Cavani's current contract with PSG comes to an end in 2020 and it will arguably be his one last opportunity to ink a lucrative deal away from the French giants.
However, sources close to Evergrande have told Guangzhou-based newspaper Information Times that there has been no bid and no approach for Cavani.
"It will be extremely difficult for us to buy good players in the transfer market," the sources said. "The club won't stay competitive [in attracting big names] after the salary cap goes into effect."
The Chinese Football Association introduced a raft of new measures to rein in excessive spending last week, including a salary cap of 1.45 million U.S. dollars a year for Chinese players.
Cavani scored 104 goals in his three-year spell at Napoli before moving to French giants PSG. /VCG Photo
Though the financial restraint was not imposed on foreign stars, it will make a huge impact on the transfer policy of each CSL club whose annual expenditure cannot exceed 173 million U.S. dollars in the new season.
"It will become quite hard for the club to remove highly paid players who are deemed surplus to requirements," the sources were quoted as saying.
"Under the new rules, those players face a massive pay cut if they move to other teams. They definitely won't agree to leave."
The 2019 CSL campaign will start on March 1 and finish on November 30.