Argentine player Fernando Cavenaghi started his professional career at River Plate in his native Argentina. River Plate are one of the top two biggest clubs in Argentina alongside fierce rivals Boca Juniors.

Fernando Cavenaghi moved abroad for the first time in his career in the summer of 2004 when he signed for Russian Premier League team Spartak Moscow. The Russians paid a record fee of $12m to sign the Argentine player.Fernando Cavenaghi was the most expensive signing in the history of Russian football at the time of his move to Spartak Moscow.
Cavenaghi didn’t have the best of times at Spartak Moscow and he was subsequently frozen out of the first team. The striker failed to adapt to Russian football. Fernando Cavenaghiwas left out in the cold by Vladimir Fedotov when he became the Spartak Moscow manager. Fedotov became the Spartak Moscow boss in April 2006. CavenaghicriticisedFedotov heavily for his tactics and that led to the strain in their relationship. The player was placed on the transfer market in December 2006.
Fernando Cavenaghi moved to French football a month after he was transfer-listed at Spartak Moscow. The Argentine left Spartak Moscow for French Ligue 1 giants Bordeaux in a €7m deal. He signed a four-and-a-half year deal at Bordeaux until the summer of 2011.Cavenaghiwas able to work in Europe through the Italian passport. He earned the Italian passport via his ancestry.