The Spanish newspaper Marca,is often called the unofficial mouthpiece of Real Madrid, as the newspaper is often used by the club to indicate their interest in another player or manager.
In today’s edition there is an interesting story of Real Madrid winger Angel Di Maria titled “Rebel Without A Cause” in which Di Maria says that he feels unsupported and unloved by the club and Madrid fans.
The short background is that when Di Maria was substituted at the weekend admits boos from the Madrid faithful that he grabbed his crotch in a gesture back to the fans. The club have said that they have began disciplinary proceedings against the winger.
But it is more than gesture. Di Maria is viewed as a superstar back home in Argentina alongside Messi, Aguero and Higuaín. But at Real Madrid he not viewed as one of their top players, and the arrival of Gareth Bale has pushed Di Maria further down the ranking.
Hand in hand with the Marca article is a report on the Spanish TV Show Tiki-Taka report that Los Blancos are now willing to sell the winger for as little as £25m. Di Maria’s buyout clause is £41m.
The Argentinian is obviously unhappy at the Bernabéu and with Bale cutting into his playing time, that he wants to move to a place where he can play on a more regular basis ahead of next summer’s World Cup.
Two potential Premier League destinations for Di Maria are Arsenal. Arsenal have lost Theo Walcott for a least six months after tearing up his knee against Spurs at the weekend. Di Maria would be a good replacement for Walcott, although he does not offer as much of a goalscoring threat as the England winger does.
The better option might be Manchester where David Moyes has money to spend. While Adnan Januzaj has been terrific for United this season out wide, the same can not be said for United’s other wingers Antonio Valencia, Nani and Ashley Young. Moyes says that he only want to bring in players who will improve his squad and Di Maria will do that. And a transfer fee of £25m, it relatively low.
It will be interesting to see how the Di Maria situation plays out over the next three weeks, but it does look very much like Real Madrid are laying the groundwork to sell this during this transfer window.
