Angel Di Maria joined Manchester United for huge money in 2014 from Real Madrid but lasted just a season at Old Trafford before being sold to French giants Paris Saint-Germain
Angel Di Maria
Angel Di Maria left Real Madrid for Manchester United(Image: Getty Images)
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Former flop Angel Di Maria has hit out at ‘lies’ about his infamous move to Manchester United. The Argentina international signed for the Red Devils back in 2014 in a £59.7m move from Spanish giants Real Madrid.
But Di Maria lasted just a single season at Old Trafford before being sold at a loss to French side Paris Saint-Germain. Di Maria has regularly claimed since that he never wanted to leave Real Madrid.
In a fresh interview with Spanish outlet AS, Di Maria has taken aim at suggestions that he was moved on because he wanted a pay packet on par with Cristiano Ronaldo.
He said: “Yes [I was sad], because I didn’t want to leave. It was said that I wanted to earn the same as Cristiano, but that was a lie. How could I expect to earn the same as someone who has won several Ballon d’Or awards?
“I was very happy, I had won the Champions League and Ancelotti didn’t want me to leave either, but James [Rodriguez] had arrived and I was the one on the market to leave.”
Di Maria has since confirmed that he was determined to stay in Spain even up until he signed the contract for United.
He added: “I tried to stay until the last day. I wanted to keep training. I played in the first leg of the Super Cup against Atleti, and in the second leg they didn’t even call me up because they had already reached an agreement with Manchester United, something I didn’t know about. My family and I were very happy, but sometimes these things happen, and it happened to me.”
Angel Di Maria
Di Maria signed for Man United back in 2014(Image: Getty Images)
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After leaving United in 2015, he ended up spending seven seasons with PSG, scoring 92 goals in 295 appearances, winning five league titles, five French Cups and four French League Cups.
He departed in 2022 to join Italian side Juventus but spent just a season in Serie A before signing for former side Benfica. Di Maria then returned to another of his former employers last year as he moved back to Argentina with a move to Rosario Central.
Di Maria was not the only one dissatisfied with life in Manchester. His wife Jorgelina Cardoso was also not a big fan of the move.
Speaking in 2020, she said: "It was horrible. Manchester is the worst. It is all horrible in Manchester. In fact, I fought a lot with Angel about it. We lived in Madrid, Angel played in the best team in the world which for me is Real Madrid.
“We were perfect, the weather was perfect, the food was perfect. And suddenly he said that there was a proposal to go to Manchester. I told him, 'Not a chance. You are going alone. 'No, come on. Let's go', he replied.”
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