Transfer Balls: Manchester United ‘sell’ Di Maria for £44m as De Gea’s price tumbles
Transfer Balls: David De Gea has had a quiet summer. The Manchester United player still plays for Manchester United. But the media narrative invites us to wonder how long for.
The Sun says :
LOUIS VAN GAAL does not know where David De Gea’s head is — or Angel Di Maria’s body.
The big kick-off is just over a week away and the Manchester United boss has been left with a goalkeeper clearly distracted and out of form.
De Gea wants to leave Manchester United. In the final year of his contract he can wait a year and head to Real Madrid on a free with the bonus of a massive signing on fee. United would get nothing for their star player.
Or he could do as Angel Di Maria has done and simply not turn up to play. Wanted by PSG, the Sun says “Van Gaal simply does not know where he is”.
British-record signing Di Maria was supposed to join up with the squad last Saturday but failed to get on his flight. Asked where the Argie midfielder was following the defeat to PSG, Van Gaal replied: “Maybe you know.”
When the questioner said he did not, LVG added: “I don’t know that either.”
Is Di Maria in his native Argentina? Have United contacted the local police or the Simon Wiesenthal Center, the outfit that knows more than most about hunting a wanted man with a price on his head in the South American jungles?
United signed Di Maria in a £59.7million deal last summer. They want £50m for him. Anyone paying that will have seen Di Maria’s limp performances last season. Can he really be worth that much?
And if De Gea’s head is turned and his form dips, will he still interest Real?
The Times says De Gea is suffering and United will sell Di Maria for £44m.
De Gea produced an error-strewn display in the 2-0 defeat by PSG in Chicago in the early hours yesterday and Van Gaal admitted that the speculation about the Spaniard was “not favourable” for the goalkeeper or United, only eight days before they play Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford.
Can you make a player play well? De Gea surely has to leave the club.
In addition to the £11.96 million that Di María cost United in wages, the deal with PSG represents a headline £15.6 million loss on the initial fee the club paid Real, although senior sources at Old Trafford claimed that the hit would not be as great as that and that the devaluation of the euro and the club not having to pay out certain performance-related payments and bonuses would limit the losses.
A loss is a loss. Manchester United are a huge club with oodles of cash. So why can’t they sign a genuine world star, or hang on to one?
Posted: 31st, July 2015 | In: manchester united, Sports Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
