On this day in 2014, Manchester United confirmed the arrival of Angel Di Maria in a British-record £59.7million transfer from Real Madrid.
After a season of mediocrity under David Moyes, United were searching for a new lease of life after bringing in Louis van Gaal as their new manager. It was a summer of change at Old Trafford and Di Maria was one of six new signings - others included Luke Shaw, Daley Blind and Ander Herrera - as United looked to improve on a seventh-place finish, which was their lowest since the start of the Sir Alex Ferguson era.
The Argentina international was signed to bring an extra ounce of spark in the final third, with Wilfried Zaha, Danny Welbeck and Javier Hernandez all moving on. Having won the Champions League and multiple La Liga titles with Los Blancos, Di Maria came to United with a massive reputation and experience of winning the big matches.
It proved to be a positive start to life in Manchester for Di Maria, who scored once and grabbed an assist on his home Premier League debut against QPR on September 14. With United not competing in Europe, Van Gaal had the entire week to prepare his team between games - but it didn't help improve their results after the victory over the R's.
They fell to a 5-3 defeat at Leicester in their following fixture, prompting a furious reaction from United supporters. One of the only positives from the match was that Di Maria scored one of the Premier League's greatest-ever goals. The attacker picked the ball up on the edge of the box from a Wayne Rooney pass before delightfully lobbing over Kasper Schmeichel. Not many would have attempted to dink 6'4" Schmeichel from a static position, let alone execute it with perfection.
What are your memories of Angel Di Maria in a Manchester United shirt? Have your say in the comments...
Di Maria continued his impressive start with another goal and assist as United beat Everton 2-1 in early October. However, that was good as it would get for the player in a United shirt, as he struggled for form and fitness after suffering a hamstring injury against Hull City. His final Red Devils goal came in the FA Cup third-round against League Two outfit Yeovil Town in January 2015, where he made his return following a spell on the sidelines.
The now-Juventus man failed to score in any of his final 22 games in a United shirt - a truly appalling record for someone that was the most expensive player in Premier League history. He would go on to leave Old Trafford on 6 August 2015 as he made the £44million switch to Paris Saint-Germain - meaning United made a considerable loss.
Eight years on from his arrival at the Red Devils, Di Maria does not have many positive memories from his time at United. Former PSG teammate Marcin Bulka said back in 2020 that the tricky winger admitted he has "no good memory of the time he spent there".
He added: "In fact, when something related to Manchester United appears on television, the channel quickly changes." Di Maria also did not see eye to eye with Van Gaal and often clashed with the Dutchman.
"I would score, assist and the next day he would show me my misplaced passes," the former Benfica winger told Tyc Sports. "He displaced me from one day to the other, he didn't like players being more than him."
Perhaps the only person on planet Earth more hateful towards the Red Devils is Di Maria's wife, Jorgelina Cardoso. In an interview with Los Angeles de le Manana two years ago, Cardoso said she never wanted to move to England after she visited her friend Giannina Maradona, who was the former wife of Sergio Aguero and is the daughter of Argentina legend Diego.
"I remember Angel coming up and saying, 'an offer from Manchester United has come in. Maybe we'll be a little more financially secure'," said Cardoso. "We thought about it. I told him, 'not a chance', he could go on his own. There was a lot of money involved, and afterwards, the Spanish were calling us money grabbers. And they were right!
"It was horrible! A s***hole, we went to the house and we were like 'see you later guys, we're out of here'. When we left, I said to him, 'Go to any country - except England'. Anyway, one year later and there we were in England."
The interview sparked plenty of reaction across social media and ex-United defender Gary Neville was someone who delivered his verdict on Di Maria's time in England. He told Sky Sports in 2020: "He played like a drain, he was awful, he needs to have a look at his Argentinian teammates like Sergio Aguero. I'll defend my city to the hill."
Di Maria enjoyed a successful seven-year spell at PSG, where he won five Ligue 1 titles, scoring 92 times in all competitions. After his release in June, the 34-year-old joined Juventus and marked his Serie A debut with a goal and an assist - and an unfortunate injury - reminding fans he is a classy operator even at his advanced age and regardless of how his disastrous United spell unfolded.
