Di Maria didn’t care for No 7 at Man United, reveals reason for failure in England

Argentine forward who played for Manchester United as No 7 in 2014, Angel Di Maria, admitted that he ‘didn’t give a f*ck about the Manchester United No 7’ after being handed the jersey at Old Trafford. The 33-year-old plays under the jersey No 11 at Paris Saint Germain (PSG) currently.

Di Maria, after a largely successful stint with Real Madrid from 2010 to 2014, transferred to Manchester United for a transfer fee of £59.7 million, one of the most expensive transfers of all time and the highest fee ever paid by a British club at the time. However, the PSG forward failed to live up to his reputation in the only season he played at the Old Trafford. 

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He was handed the revered No 7 jersey. Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo will now be seen carrying the number after he joined Manchester United in the last week. 

“I didn’t give a f*ck about the Manchester United No. 7, at first they talked to me a lot about it, it was just a shirt,” Di Maria told TyC Sports. 

He further claimed that Dutch football manager Louis van Gaal is the main reason for his failure in English football.

“My problem at Manchester was the coach. Van Gaal was the worst of my career. I would score, assist, and the next day he would show me my misplaced passes. He displaced me from one day to the other, he didn’t like players being more than him,” he added. 

Di Maria could manage only four runs in 32 appearances for Manchester United. He then joined Paris Saint Germain in 2015. Since then, the Argentine has been a key member of the French outfit. 

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Talking about Jose Mourinho, under whom he played at Santiago Bernabeu, Di Maria said, “Mourinho is insane, with me he was always a good guy. He fought with anyone though, he didn’t give a f*ck. One time he fought with [Cristiano] Ronaldo telling him he didn’t run, that everyone ran for him.”

Angel Di Maria hit 26 goals under the Portuguese coach as the Blancos won La Liga and Copa del Rey glory. The 33-year-old is now into his seventh season at PSG – with 266 appearances for the Ligue 1 giants.