Manchester United are reportedly set to sign Real Madrid winger Angel Di Maria for a hefty transfer fee of around £50million pounds, after manager Carlo Ancelotti admitted that his Argentine forward had requested a transfer.
Ancelotti had this to say about Di Maria at a press conference: "Di Maria asked to go in the summer and has rejected an offer from the club. The player has to look for a solution. If when the market closes he's still here, he will work with us like last season and there will be no problem."
And before their second leg match with Atlético, he also added "He's a Real Madrid player and until August 31, as I've already said, anything can happen."
It has been reported that the transfer saga will be dealt with in the next week or so, as the transfer deadline is fast approaching and both clubs are eager to get the deal done as soon as possible.
Di Maria was heavily linked with a move away from Real this time last year, after the sale of Mesut Ozil to Arsenal; it seemed as if he was set to follow Ozil out of the club. BUT, he had stated that he wanted to stay at Madrid and fight for his place, which he did well and contributed massively to the team in the 2013-14 campaign with 7 goals and 23 assists in all competitions.
French side PSG were rumoured to also be in the running to sign Di Maria, but they hit a stumbling block over the player's wages and confirmed that they would not be following up in the negotiations despite the clubs reportedly agreeing a fee. He was asking for up to £8million-pouunds-a-year as his contract deal, which was too expensive for the Ligue 1 club to pay for one player, considering the fact that they have to keep in line with the rules of Financial Fair Play.
If the deal does go through as planned, it will be a signal of intent by United - Di Maria is a world-class player who has flourished at the Bernabeu in the past few seasons alongside the likes of Ronaldo and Benzema. He is the kind of star quality that is needed at Old Trafford, and it could be time for him to come out of the shadows and be the star man at the club.