Wednesday’s preseason friendly between Manchester United and Paris St. Germain really is becoming a de facto “Angel Di Maria Cup.” Of course, it’s just a friendly, and the result of the game will have no actual consequence on Di Maria’s decision. However, it looks like this week will be when Di Maria swaps sides and completes his transfer between the two teams.
With the two sides meeting up in Chicago a few days from now, maybe it will just make the negotiating process easier for both clubs.
Di Maria isn’t the only player who’s been linked with a transfer between the two clubs. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the mercurial Swedish superstar has been linked with a move to Old Trafford this summer. However, according to a story in the Mail on Sunday, Ibrahimovic insists he is happy at PSG in “the best city in Europe” despite links over a summer move to United.
That rumor probably never had much credibility anyway; as Zlatan said earlier this week that his relationship with United Manager Louis van Gaal is still bad. Ibrahimovic called Van Gaal some insulting names in his autobiography. However, it’s worth mentioning that many of the quotes in his book were later revealed to have been made up.
PSG striker Edinson Cavani was heavily linked with a move to the Red Devils this summer, but that doesn’t seem to be a transaction that will happen. Paris has ruled out selling him to United, and if Van Gaal does bring in a striker this summer it very likely won’t be Cavani.
Moving on to the actual game, it kicks off at 8 local time, and airs at 10:30 local time on Fox Sports 1. It will be played at Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Bears in along the shores of Lake Michigan in Chicago, Illinois. The friendly is part of the International Champions Cup.
United are undefeated throughout the preseason tournament as they defend the 2014 Cup crown (I know “preseason” and “crown” or “championship” it’s oxymoronic, I know. Let’s just move on) The Red Devils defeated Club América 1-0 and the San Jose Earthquakes 2-1. Just yesterday they took down Barcelona 3-1 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
For the readers who are new to this game and this club, here’s a little background information. For the experts, it will be a nice little refresher in club history.
Probably the most recognizable sports franchise in the world, Manchester United is the most successful team in English league football and has been home to some of the game’s greats, such as Sir Bobby Charlton, George Best and Denis Law. The club is also incredibly successful off the field, having become the first sports franchise to be valued at over $3 billion. The latest polling data estimate that the club has 680,000,000 supporters world wide.
The record 20-time league title winners have dominated English football for much of the last 25 years and during that time, some of the biggest names in football, including Eric Cantona, David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney, have pulled on the famous red shirt and run out on Old Trafford’s hallowed turf.
And they all played under the greatest manager football has ever known: Sir Alex Ferguson.
He took charge of Manchester United in November 1986, before retiring in May 2013. The current manager is Louis van Gaal who took over the reins in the summer of 2014 following Ryan Giggs’ four-game stint in charge as caretaker manager after David Moyes’ departure towards the end of the 2013/14 season. Giggs is now van Gaal’s assistant and remains the club’s record appearance-maker.
The club is one of the richest, most powerful and polarizing sporting brands on Earth. They have hundreds of millions of fans; but #ThereWillBeHaters
The current squad features star striker and England National Team Wayne Rooney; along with goalkeeper David de Gea, who was hands down the club’s best performer last season. Manchester United are currently in third place in the International Champions Cup standings.
Here is the PSG version of this article.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net, which is part of the FOX Sports Engage Network. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. He also appears regularly on numerous talk radio stations all across the country.
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