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Manchester United officially confirmed the sale of Argentine winger Angel Di Maria to Paris Saint-Germain. He made 24 starts for the Red Devils having signed for them on 26 August 2014. The deal cost the Parisians £44 million, ESPN-FC reported. If the fee is correct, the English giants will bear a loss of nearly £16 million having brought in the winger from Real Madrid for a British record transfer fee of £59.7 million on last summer on 26 August, 2014.
Having come from a “Man-of-the-Match” performance for Real Madrid in the 2014 Champions League final, Di Maria’s start at Manchester United was promising but despite his 10 assists and 4 goals for the Old Trafford side in 32 games, his stint in Manchester is considered below par for his failure to deliver consistent performances after the promising build-up.
Los Galacticos, however, might profit from the sale of the winger as well. According to the Express, Real are set to pocket an amount in the region of £5.5 million which is 8% of the total fee from the transaction.
The transfer saga
The saga that was drawn out between the two clubs and the player was played out over a number of weeks including the player’s non-return to training with Manchester United and Dutch boss Louis van Gaal’s anger towards his behaviour. The United boss on two occasions said he did not know where the Argentine winger was, having left the club to join up with the Argentina national team for Copa America 2015.
He was a crucial part of the side as they made it to the final when Di Maria was taken off early having suffered an injury. The shocker came when Marcos Rojo and he were supposed to return for United pre-season and neither of them showed up. While Rojo contacted Van Gaal about some passport issues he was facing, the club were kept in the dark about Di Maria’s status.
The club announced on their official website and Twitter account that they would like to wish Di Maria the best on his new adventure.
PSG’s biggest signing
Di Maria is easily the French champions’ biggest signing of the summer and as the Argentine earlier stated, he is “happy” to be joining up with Paris Saint-Germain. While Laurent Blanc’s side have dominated domestic French football, they have been looking for a spark in the UEFA Champions League to take them past the quarter-final stage in the prestigious European competition.
