Manchester United may have seen Angel Di Maria play his final game for the club following reports that the winger has agreed terms on 5 year deal at PSG.
It is thought that Di Maria had initially wanted to join PSG last summer, but financial fair play meant the Paris club were unable to press ahead and sign the star from PSG.
This opened the door for United, who swooped in and signed him for a British record £59.7m.
The season that followed was one of highs and lows but his goal return was modest to say the least and many fans got the impression that he didn’t want to be there. Injuries and off field matters didn’t help his cause but it lead to speculation on his future.
This summer Di Maria has insisted that he wants to stay at United, but reports today from French paper Le Parisien say otherwise.
They claim that Di Maria has already agreed terms on a 5 year deal with the French champions, and all that remain now is for the two sides to agree a fee. They also claim that he will join in time to go on tour to America with his new club, where they will face United.
Whilst some mention €60m, others claim United are asking for €65m in an effort to recover the huge fee they spent last summer.
Di Maria is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury, picked up during the Copa America final against Chile, so this could play a part in the transfer but if both parties press ahead with the deal Di Maria will 100% make the switch regardless.
I have read elsewhere that he would actually prefer to go back to Real (having never wanted to leave in the first place) but there seems no great desire to have him back amongst the club’s hierarchy. Benitez, who surely can’t believe his luck at landing the Real manager’s job, will no doubt have the same opinion as Perez.
I’ve had my suspicions for some time that Van Gaal isn’t totally in control of the transfer policy with Woodward and the Glazers seemingly hell bent on proving they can buy players from the biggest clubs in the world, possibly in order to prove that Manchester United are not a club in decline and can attract the world’s better players.
I really can’t see him leaving after 1 season. But anything could happen I suppose. A defender should be the focus.