What’s the story?
Real Madrid are all but resigned to losing Colombian star James Rodriguez to the Premier League and now reports in Sun (via Spain) state that Zidane is prepared to bid over £45 million for Paris Saint-Germain star Angel Di Maria. The 29-year-old was a firm fan favourite at the Bernabeu and Zidane thinks that the Argentine will add some much-needed energy, dynamism and legs to the Madrid forward line.
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Manchester United are said to be favourites to land the Colombian, but should the Red Devils fail to make the Champions League, Liverpool, Tottenham and even Chelsea are said to be interested in signing James.
In case you didn’t know...
Di Maria spent an extremely fruitful 4 years at Real Madrid (2010-2014) where he even became a fan favourite. Upon his departure, the Argentine even penned an emotional open letter to the fans saying that he never wanted to leave the club.
His excessive wage demands were the reason given by the Madrid board while selling him, but the PSG man was not happy with those allegations. After departing Madrid, Di Maria spent a solitary season at Manchester United before moving to Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain.
Also read: 10 best footballers in La Liga this season
The heart of the matter
According to the reports, although Zidane himself wants Di Maria to come to the Bernabeu, a move might be difficult to complete because of the past differences between the board and the player.
With James Rodriguez set to move away from his bit-part role at Madrid, the Spanish champions are desperate to add some quality and it will be interesting to see if this ambitious move does indeed come to fruition in the summer transfer window.
What’s next?
PSG have failed to win the Ligue 1 title for the first time in 5 years and the French giants will face a tough challenge to hold on to their stars like Marco Verratti and Angel Di Maria in the summer transfer window.
Real Madrid are always challenging for top honours and Di Maria might find it too hard to resist a move back to his beloved Santiago Bernabeu.
Also read: Reports: Cristiano Ronaldo wants Gareth Bale to be benched for Champions League final
Author’s take
Although Di Maria is undoubtedly one of the most talented players of this generation, the fact remains that he is 29 and probably past his best. Madrid are sure to get a good sum for James Rodriguez and they will do well to invest that money on a younger world class talent.
