SPECIAL REPORT: Man United's record British
signing has been linked with Barcelona after a poor
first season at Old Trafford, but a move is unlikely
this summer
By Greg Stobart
When Angel Di Maria joined Manchester United last
summer, it was considered proof that the club
remained an elite power in world football.
Even without European competition, United were
able to attract a top-class talent who had been one
of the driving forces in Real Madrid's La Decima
triumph just months earlier.
The cost was a British record transfer fee of £59.7
million and around £300,000 a week in wages –
and those two numbers are the reasons why Di
Maria is likely to remain a United player next
season.
Di Maria has been linked with a move away from
Old Trafford after a difficult first season at the club,
but United would want to recoup their initial outlay
and the player will not accept a wage cut to leave.
It leaves less than a handful of clubs in a position
where they have the financial means to sign the
Argentine.
Barcelona have been credited with an interest in Di
Maria, believed to be driven by the midfielder's
compatriot and close friend Lionel Messi.
But the European champions are banned from
playing any newly signed players until January,
while a more commanding midfielder such as Paul
Pogba is believed to be their priority in any case.
There is also believed to be a clause in the
agreement between Manchester United and Real
Madrid that would force Barcelona to pay £10m to
their bitter rivals should Di Maria move to Camp
Nou.
Bayern Munich could afford to sign Di Maria but
already have the likes of Arjen Robben, Thomas
Muller, Franck Ribery and Mario Gotze who can
play in his attacking positions; while Paris Saint-
Germain are still hamstrung by the Financial Fair
Play regulations that forced them to pull out of a
deal for the Argentina international last summer
when everything appeared to have been agreed.
That means Di Maria will have a second season in
Manchester to make sure he is not remembered as
the biggest flop in Premier League history.
He made 33 appearances for United in all
competitions last season but found himself
watching from the substitutes' bench for the final
three months of the campaign. He last completed
90 minutes in the FA Cup against Preston in
February and struggled to fit in to manager Louis
van Gaal's system and demands.
He will find his opportunities further limited next
season following the arrival of Memphis Depay
from PSV for around £23m, a transfer driven by
Van Gaal's desire to be reunited with a player who
he brought into the Netherlands squad.
Di Maria's United career started well enough as he
scored three goals in his first five Premier League
appearances, but he failed to score again for the
rest of the season as the early promise quickly
evaporated. He registered a total of 10 assists in
the Premier League but found himself substituted
13 times from his 20 starts in the top flight.
Di Maria's style – direct and aggressive dribbling
– did not match with Van Gaal's desire for patient
and methodical build-up play and he admitted in
May that he was disappointed with the level of his
performances.
"I'm not happy with my first year in England," Di
Maria said. "I moved here from Real to win titles
and this season has been very bad for me. I'm
frustrated because I want to do better.
"The fans in England have not seen the real Di
Maria. I know I can offer a better level. This year
was not good enough."
The former Benfica man was not helped by a
hamstring injury in November, while off the pitch
he found it difficult to settle in a completely
different culture and with a very poor grasp of
English.
Those off-field problems were exacerbated when
burglars attempted to break into his home after
United's 3-1 home victory over Leicester City in
January. Di Maria and his family have not returned
to the property and spent several months living in
a city centre hotel in Manchester.
Van Gaal, for his part, suggested that Di Maria's
main problem has been his inability to take on
instructions. The Dutchman is renowned for his
almost obsessive attention to detail and his desire
for players to think tactically while on the pitch.
"The players have had to adapt to the philosophy
and Di Maria has to do that," Van Gaal said last
month.
"He can still do that, of course, because every
player can but it's important that he wants to do
that in his head.
"When you are open to coaching, then you can
change but a change of behaviour is very difficult.
Always, the old errors are coming back so a
change of behaviour is not so easy so we have to
wait and see.
"It's not that Di Maria doesn't have the quality. He
has to perform in a way that we want. Not in the
way I want but in the way we want as a club."
Di Maria still has four years left on the United
contract he signed last August – and he must
start adapting if he is to force his way in to Van
Gaal's plans and justify his status as the most
expensive player in British football.
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