Manchester United winger Angel di Maria has admitted that he is “unhappy” at Old Trafford.
Signed for a club record £59.7 million from Real Madrid in the summer of 2014, di Maria started brightly, but soon suffered a dip in form that saw him relegated to the bench by manager Louis van Gaal.
Having played an instrumental role in Real Madrid’s Champions League success the season before, much was expected of the Argentine. He dazzled in his first four matches, registering two goals and two assists, including an audacious chip against Leicester that went on to win the club’s Goal of the Month for September.
Following a hamstring injury suffered in United’s 3-0 win against Hull on November 29th, di Maria’s form dipped. He soon found starts increasingly difficult to come by, and was red carded during the club’s 2-1 home defeat to Arsenal in the FA Cup, resulting in his subsequent bit-part role for the rest of the season.
Having been replaced by Ashley Young, di Maria watched on from the bench as United enjoyed their best spell of the season, in which they defeated the likes of Tottenham at home, Liverpool away, and Manchester City at home, ending their recent run of home defeats to their local rivals.
They also put forth a dominant, albeit losing performance against eventual Premier League champions Chelsea at the Stamford Bridge on April 18th.
In an interview with Argentine newspaper Ole, di Maria was asked whether he had been unhappy since his Manchester United switch, to which the 27-year-old responded:
“Yes. For me, and my family. Because not everything goes as I want, because I don’t play…because I came with an intention and end up on the bench. It’s hard to tell how I feel there.”
The skillful winger is reportedly being courted by European giants Bayern Munich and Barcelona, with no official offers having been made as of yet.
However, quotes translated by Sports Witness reveal that when prompted if he was considering a move away from the club, di Maria answered, “No, because I’m not thinking like that. In Madrid there were times when I was whistled around the stadium but faced it and then it turned around. I like to deal with things.”
