It’s not exactly news that Angel Di Maria didn’t adjust well to life at Manchester United, or living in England in general.
We’ve also known for awhile that Di Maria didn’t gel with United Manager Louis van Gaal. On transfer deadline day, Di Maria publicly blasted Van Gaal, and blamed his philosophy for why he didn’t flourish at Old Trafford.
Di Maria was sold to Paris Saint Germain in August, and now that he’s with PSG, he’s letting out everything that he had to keep bottled in while he was with the Red Devils.
This time Di Maria himself admitted that he never wanted to go to Old Trafford, and instead wanted to remain at Real Madrid.
Di Maria told Marca:
“It wasn’t about hard feelings, I wrote it to clarify all the things being said about me that were complete lies. If I went to the Bernabeu today and they booed me, it would be for everything that was said about me then.
“It was always my intention to stay, never to go. I don’t know much about what went on there behind closed doors — that’s stuff the agents deal with.
“I left Madrid the way I left but what I took with me was the fantastic moment of that final applause at the Bernabeu, and I feel OK with that.”
“did not get on well” with Van Gaal and that he was never truly happy in England. He never really wanted to come to Manchester in the first place, as he wanted to move to Paris instead. However, PSG were inhibited by Financial Fair Play rules and Di Maria instead signed a record breaking £59.7 million move.
Di Maria opened up to Le Parisien.
“Honestly, we were not happy. At the beginning, we were a little. But then things became complicated,” he said (transcript via Goal)
“Life in England was a bit difficult. It is not easy for a South American. Some people get on fine, and for others it is harder to adapt. I didn’t get on very well with the coach, so I think the decision to join Paris was the best solution.”
“Last season was difficult for me,” Di Maria continued.
“I didn’t play much and it was tough to watch the Champions League on television after winning it with Real Madrid.”
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