Angel Di Maria reveals playing with Wayne Rooney is like playing with Messi or Ronaldo

Angel Di Maria with Wayne Rooney

Manchester United superstar Angel Di Maria has revealed that his understanding with Wayne Rooney is on par with his relationship on the pitch with Lionel Messi for Argentina and with Cristiano Ronaldo at Real Madrid. In an interview to the Daily Mail, the 26-year-old taks about life at Manchester United, his early struggles, his club not being in the Champions league and more.

Di Maria started his career at Torito in Argentina at the age of three and moved to Rosario Central for a transfer fee of 35 footballs. The most expensive player in Premier league history at £59.7 million and a UEFA Champions League winner with Real Madrid last season, the lanky winger is devoid of Champions league football at Manchester United at least for 2014-15.

On whether he watches UEFA Champions League

‘No, I don’t watch the (European) matches,’ he said. ‘I play with my daughter instead. It’s more important.’

About his daughter and his wife he said. ‘They’re fine now, they’re happy. She was in hospital for two months but there weren’t any further problems, thank God. So, we’re really great and happy to be here in Manchester.

‘I think that, with what happened with my daughter, I realised that there isn’t anything more important than that. You just want to be with your kids in these difficult moments, like the ones my daughter went through.

‘So, no, I don’t worry about the Champions League. I knew when I came to Manchester that I wouldn’t be playing in the Champions League but what I was thinking — what I think now —was that I would do my bit to help my team-mates qualify for the Champions League so that the next year we would be back playing important games. I think that will happen.’

On his life and early struggles

‘Well, I think that all of this — from the 35 footballs, to the €6m when I went to Benfica, then the €30m with Real Madrid, then the €75m for United — I think that as far as I’m concerned, I think of my family, my life’s effort, and I look at myself now and see that this is what I’ve been working for since I was a kid,’ he said.

‘I don’t think that the end of the era has arrived or that I’ve come through that part of my life. I think that I’m going to carry on working and developing in order to make sure I can still play for the best clubs and carry on doing my best. I’m 26 and I’ve still got a lot to give and got a lot of work to do.’

‘I went to school in the morning,’ he said of his childhood. ‘After that, when I got home, I helped dad with the coal. We had a place behind the house where it was stored. And then, at about 3.30pm or 4pm, I’d get on my bike and go off to train.

‘So yeah . . . going to school, then working with my dad, then on the bike for 30-40 minutes to get to training, then training, then back home . . . it was difficult but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. When you’re mad about football, you do whatever (is needed) to play.’

On Wayne Rooney

‘Rooney is at the top level,’ he said. ‘The other day I was talking to my friend and I said, “Rooney and me understand each other, just like Messi and me in the Argentina squad, or Cristiano at Real Madrid”. I get on really well with Rooney, we get together on the pitch to kick the ball about, to do things. He’s a spectacular player and he’s one of the top players in the game.’