Sunday 2 August 2015

Di Maria to have PSG medical.... but how different it could have been

United winger Angel Di Maria is set to have a medical in the next 24 hours ahead of a proposed £46m transfer to Paris St-Germain.

What a difference a year makes.
This time 12 months ago the first mutterings of United making a move for one of the best players in the world was gathering momentum and sure enough, a little over a fortnight later, he signed a deal to make him British football's most expensive signing.


Di Maria could have been one of the finest players ever to grace the Red shirt... if only he'd wanted to be.

Ultimately, Di Maria is a frustrating case of what might have been. 
Unquestionably, circumstances have conspired against him but it has not worked out at Old Trafford and the player has to take responsibility for that.

When the out-of-form winger lost his place in the side to the rejuvenated, nigh-on unplayable Ashley Young at the back end of last season, instead of knuckling down and working hard to regain it, Di Maria was sulking on the bench.

The Argentine would have done well to take a leaf out of Juan Mata's book. 

The Spaniard often found himself on the bench in the early part of the season  but got on with his football and improved until he was back in the team,  reaping the rewards with a string of outstanding performances in the latter stages of the campaign.

Di Maria was sent off against Arsenal in the FA Cup and started only one game before the end of the season after that, lasting 23 minutes at Hull in what turned out to be his last game in a United shirt. 

Louis van Gaal  said after the Arsenal game that Di Maria needed to "change his attitude" to make a success of his Reds career, but this was something that the player was seemingly unwilling to do. 


He failed to show for the US Tour- prompting a furious LVG  to fume that he "does not know where Di Maria is" and slapping him with a huge fine.

That no show was the final straw, with his lack of respect, self discipline and professionalism  pushing him through the exit door.

Di Maria no longer wants to be a United player so- although there are some that argue that a player of his quality should be given another season- for that reason alone, I'm not sorry to see him go. 






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