It’s very possible that Angel Di Maria will reject Paris St. Germain this summer and instead fight for his first-team place at Manchester United. There’s been plenty of speculation over the weekend that PSG were drawing closer to finalizing a deal for the Premier League’s record signing, but if that were true how come none of the major, most trust-worthy French or Parisian papers picked up on it?
Because contrary to previous claims that he’d be moving to PSG by the end of the weekend, nothing is done yet. Yes, United Manager Louis van Gaal was extremely vague about the future of Di Maria with the press when he was asked about it a couple days ago. Indeed PSG Manager Laurent Blanc admitted that the Argentine Winger is the top target this summer.
But the only thing we learned for certain about his future is that Di Maria will have to formally hand in the transfer request himself if he wants the move.
Via the Daily Mail:
“United are not encouraging interest from PSG or anybody else and the message from club insiders here in America’s north-west this week has been very much that Di Maria is not for sale.It seems that if Di Maria wants to get out of England badly enough then he will have to force the issue.
Submitting a transfer request is always the modern player’s last resort simply because it waives any right to a financial pay off. But United have stressed this week that they are not in the habit of selling world-class players after only 12 months.”
The £59.7 signing from Real Madrid had a very rough first season at Old Trafford. Although he led the team in assists (third in the Premier League), he still didn’t live up to the hype and price tag. He also had to deal with a culture shock last year; having to adjust to a new country, climate, language etc. Then he was shaken up by a frightening break-in attempt at his home.
Yet it appears Di Maria wants to stay and United do want to keep him. Marouane Fellaini was considered the big signing of the previous season, and you saw how the struggled in his first campaign at Old Trafford. Then in his second year, he turned it around.
If such an improvement is possible for Di Maria this year, and we have every right to believe it could be, Van Gaal and company cannot miss out on that opportunity.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with Fox Sports Digital. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. He also appears regularly on numerous sports talk radio stations all across the country.
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