Report: Di Maria skips Manchester United's pre-season fuelling speculation of a PSG move
Angel Di Maria was one notable absentee from Manchester United's pre-season tour in the United States to further fuel speculation about a potential move away, according to the Guardian.
Several reports have been doing the rounds about the Argentine winger leaving Old Trafford to join Paris St Germain. It was expected that Di Maria would be part of the United squad in San Jose, along with his Argentine compatriot Marcos Rojo who has also the club’s pre-season tour.
The two were given an extended break after having participated in Copa America where Argentina reached the final. United manager explained the reason behind the absence of defender Rojo by saying but did not give an explanation on Di Maria’s absence.
“Di Maria and Rojo are not on the plane. He [Rojo] has passport issues, but for Di María, I don’t know why.”
“[Javier] Hernández is here,” he further added as quoted by the Guardian. It is claimed that Di Maria is expected to undergo his medical on Monday in New York ahead of a permanent move to PSG.
It looks increasingly likely that Di Maria who was bought by Manchester United for a Brtish record transfer fee of £57.9m may not remain at the Old Trafford by the time the transfer window closes.
Blanc says Di Maria could sign
PSG coach Laurent Blanc further fuelled speculation by saying that the club are interested and that the player may sign.
“There is a good possibility [he could sign] but there is nothing official. There is an anticipation he is going to come to the US but as to which jersey he is going to wear, we don’t know yet," Blanc said.
“If he does make a change hopefully it will be for Paris Saint-Germain. Right now we have to wait because there are two big clubs out there in the discussion.”
“Of course, PSG is out looking in terms of recruiting an offensive player, whether it is Di Maria or somebody else. Of course a coach would like to see somebody like him but there is nothing official at this moment,” he said as quoted by the Guardian.
One player who did feature for Manchester United in their friendly against Barcelona was David De Gea who is himself involved in a lot of transfer speculation regarding a move to Real Madrid.
The Dutch manager is keen on keeping the Spanish keeper who has only a year remaining on his contract. But he also conceded that in football, anything can happen.
“Of course, I do hope that De Gea will stay, but in this world of football, you never know,” Van Gaal said according to the report.