Here's why Real Madrid would be foolish to let Angel di Maria leave

Angel di Maria

Not having been an elite level professional footballer puts me at a disadvantage when it comes to understanding the mechanisms of Angel di Maria’s mind. I’m also not privy to his relationship with his boss, Carlo Ancelotti, and I do not know what, if any, promises have been made between the two. However from the outside looking in, it’s hard to determine what exactly Di Maria thought his role would be when Gareth Bale arrived from Tottenham this summer.

The Argentinian is supposedly unsettled in the Spanish capital and, according to Marca, “on the warpath” with a possible move to Monaco running around his mind. The Express reports that the Man United target has had talks with the French club too. These feelings have supposedly been aroused by his inability to break up Ancelotti’s preferred front three of Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema over the past month, while he also finds himself behind Isco and Luka Modric when it comes to the central attacking midfield role.

Marca’s reports says Di Maria feels even playing well won’t get him into the team – he could have a point. The 25-year-old has been a regular in the Champions League this season, starting four of Real Madrid’s five matches and has generally played very well. He’s scored three goals in the competition and created, on average, two chances in each game, getting five assists.

Away from European football, he’s found football harder to come by domestically. He’s only completed four games in La Liga this season, scoring one goal in his 13 appearances. However despite a lack of minutes, particularly recently, he’s managed to create more chances (25) than anyone at the club bar Isco (33) – although he’s only actually set up one goal in the league.

Real Madrid Top Chance Creators In La Liga This Season

Elsewhere he’s been reliable, if not spectacular in all other areas of his game. Good in possession – he’s completed over 80 percent of his passes in all competitions – and accurate with his shooting, he’s clearly a valuable asset in Madrid’s attacking armoury.

It’s no surprise that he feels he’s playing well enough to earn more minutes, nor is it surprising that Carlo Ancelotti and the Madrid hierarchy want to keep their talented Argentinian international in the squad. The problem comes in the shape of Bale and Ronaldo though.

Los Blancos’ two wide men are not just necessary inclusions because they were bought with millions of Florentino Perez’s money – or someone else’s – but also because they’re pretty spectacular. Between them, they have scored 34 goals this season and assisted 11 more, and that’s with Bale missing the start of the season and Ronaldo being absent for Madrid’s last few games.

How can Di Maria compete with that?

It leaves the 25-year-old in an understandably flux position, but surely he knew this was likely to happen when he committed to the club in the summer? Meanwhile, Ancelotti will continue to find it hard to make room for Di Maria in his starting lineup, but he can’t afford to lose him in January either.

Di Maria will, if Marca’s story carries any weight, will push for a move to Monaco, while Madrid will fight for him to stay – only one of the parties can get what they want.