Di Maria’s heart wasn’t in United move - and is a lesson for Reds
TWO days after his £59.7m move from Real Madrid to United was confirmed, Angel Di Maria was still thinking about his former employers in the Spanish capital.
Farewell letters to former clubs are all the rage these days, many genuine, some part of football’s increasingly competitive PR war. Yet alarm bells must have been ringing when Di Maria freely admitted he had never wanted to leave the Bernabeu in the first place.
We now know, thanks to the candid, crass comments of his wife Jorgelina Cardoso, that Di Maria’s heart was never really in Manchester, just his wallet.
Those warning signs that came with his tear-stained Bernabeu goodbye were a sign of things to come, short and long-term.
“Unfortunately today I have to go, but I want to make clear that this was never my desire,” the Argentine told Madridistas, adding that he had departed for the 2014 World Cup ‘with the hope of receiving a new contract.’ Also in that letter was this pearler from Di Maria: “There are many things that I value and many of them have nothing to do with my salary. I hope to find it at Manchester United.” Six years later Cardoso said this week: “I remember Angel coming up and saying ‘an offer from Manchester United has come in. Maybe we’ll be a little more financially secure.
“There was a lot of money involved, and afterwards, the Spanish were calling us money grabbers. And they were right! If you are working for a company and the competition comes along and offers to pay you double, you take it!”
Yet Di Maria’s disastrous season in Manchester is proof that talent alone is simply not enough. This is obviously a good footballer, you don’t win 102 Argentina caps by the time you’re 32, as well as making more than 400 combined appearances for Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain, without a decent level of ability. The reason the former Benfica winger flopped at Old Trafford is that he didn’t have the heart for the battle. He wasn’t suited to Premier League football but, worse than that, he quickly decided he didn’t have the stomach to even try and fit in. Di Maria didn’t like the style of play, he didn’t like the city, so that was that, tools downed, find a way out.
United took a £15m loss on Di Maria. That’s a price many supporters will feel was worth paying to see him shoved into the Old Trafford advertising hoardings by Ashley Young last season when he returned playing for PSG.
One of the subtler images of United’s wild celebrations in Paris three weeks later was the sight of Di Maria stood motionless at the other end of the Parc des Princes pitch, unsure
Di Maria’s disastrous season in Manchester is proof that talent alone is simply not enough
Tyrone Marshall
whether to face the venom of his own club’s ultras or the painful sight of his former team dancing in front of a jubilant away end.
Di Maria might have left Old Trafford five years ago but it feels like he and his wife have spent half of that time slagging the club and the city off.
It’s not long since PSG team-mate Marcin Bulka said: “Di Maria hates Manchester United. He has no good memory of the time he spent there.”
The Argentine might not be able to forget about United, but United have long since forgotten about him. At least on the pitch.
His name should be omnipresent when it comes to discussions over transfers. Maybe we should call it the Di Maria doctrine. The £59.7m mistake that should still be guiding United’s transfer principles even now.
Because this was the ultimate lesson in why spending money on the best players you can get your hands on isn’t a shortcut to success.
It already feels like some of these lessons have been learnt.
It’s hard to imagine Solskjaer sanctioning a deal for Di Maria.
Admittedly, the player is unlikely to turn around and tell the club he isn’t actually that keen to come, but then the recruitment process at most top clubs these days involves extensive background checks, not just on what a player is like at training, but how he lives his life, his commitment and his ambitions.
United might be in a better place than most clubs to afford expensive transfer mistakes, but it’s not going to help the club rebuild when they arrive.
No club can achieve a 100 per cent success rate in the transfer market, but United should avoid the mistakes that led to a disgruntled Di Maria’s arrival in the summer of 2014.