How Old Trafford outcast Di Maria became one

After another disappointingly anonymous display, Wayne Rooney offered some robust criticism to Di Maria’s face. A proper argument erupted. Strong words were used.

The vast majority at Old Trafford would agree the £60m signing was one of the biggest flops in the club’s history, and a symbolic expensive failure that perfectly reflected the dysfunction of the post-Ferguson era.

Many at PSG, however, would argue he just needs the right setting to bring out real strength. This is the attacker so effective that his Argentina team-mates have for a long time considered him the national team’s most important player after Leo Messi — who loves Di Maria.

The 30-year-old is one of a distinctive group to have played with Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar, but has crucially excelled with every one of them. Far from the flop he was at United, Di Maria has shown real resolve to recover from that spell. He is off the back of the most productive season of his career in 2017-18 with 21 goals in 45 games.

He returns to Old Trafford in peak form, and all the more important a figure because of injuries to Neymar and Edinson Cavani. Di Maria is at least primed to make his former club pay in another way now, and show them the great No.7 a minority at Old Trafford still just lament they never got to see.

Some of his problems at United, though, probably came from everything going too right at Real Madrid. There is a further irony that Di Maria had such issues with Louis van Gaal, given that one of the best spells in his career had come under the Dutch coach’s direct successor at Old Trafford. Jose Mourinho had lobbied for his signing on arriving at Madrid in 2010.