After much speculation and talk about bringing Argentinian Angel Di Maria to Manchester United, the rumors finally ended and talks began to bring him in to Old Trafford on a record transfer fee of £60million, which is around $106 million. Coach Carlo Ancoletti announced that Di Maria wasn’t training with the European champs, but did make his way to the training grounds to say goodbye to his fellow teammates.
Di Maria’s exit talks from the Spanish club started earlier this summer by the £63 million signing of Colombian midfielder James Rodriguez from Monaco. With Rodriguez in the squad, it seemed that the days of playing at the Bernabeu were over for him.
Earlier this summer, Di Maria was linked to three time champs of Juventus, but later on withdrew from the race to sign him on a permanent basis but did retain an interest in completing a loan move. Manchester City was also interested in signing Di Maria in a loan but also stopped since their focus was on signing defensive reinforcements this summer.
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Angel Di Maria started his professional career at Argentinian club Rosario Central in 2005 and was there for two years. In those two years, he made 35 appearances and scored only 6 goals. On July 2007, Di Maria was transferred to Portuguese side Benfica where he played as a winger. He played there for three years and made 76 appearances along with 7 goals on his record sheet.
He was then linked to Real Madrid and made the official statement on June of 2010 that he was joining Real Madrid. He signed a five-year contract for €25 million, plus €11 million in incentives. He made his debut on August 4, 2010 and scored his first goal for the club on August 22, 2010 against Hercules CF.
Di Maria was a great help to Real Madrid in his 4-year spell as an attacking central midfielder and was frequently seen in the starting lineup next to Luka Modrić and Xabi Alonso. Di Maria made 124 appearances for Real Madrid while scoring 22 goals for the club and also being named man of the match by UEFA in the huge 4-1 comeback win over Atlético Madrid in the UEFA Final.
With Di Maria joining Manchester United this season, this would make him the biggest transfer from the Spanish league since Fernando Torres $86million from Atlético to Liverpool. With Angel Di Maria playing as an attacking central midfielder, he will become a great help to volley balls and give the attacking squad a chance to score.
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