A transfer fee of almost $100 million U.S. has been agreed between Real Madrid and Manchester United for Angel Di Maria, according to Sky Sports.
It’s happening. FOR REAL this time.
It’s a whole lot of cash, and there have been grumblings over whether the Argentine winger is worth it. Especially since that kind of money hasn’t been spent on a player since Chelsea bought Fernando Torres for a then-record fee of over $80 million.
Tish tosh. I’m here to tell you why he’s worth every single penny.
He’s wildly productive
He might not be the player who’s most in the spotlight, but Di Maria is always there. He led Real Madrid in assists with 17 in the 2013-14 La Liga season.
This was while sharing the field with players like Xabi Alonso, Luka Modric, Gareth Bale, and Cristiano Ronaldo, who’s almost never not in the running for World Player of the Year.
He also was his national team’s most dangerous attacking player during the 2014 World Cup before being injured in the semifinal.
He created more chances for Argentina than Lionel Messi, who ended up being the player of the tournament.
He’s versatile
When Madrid signed Gareth Bale from Tottenham, Di Maria was found to be surplus at his favored winger position. He molded himself into a center midfielder and managed to be indispensable there for the team last season.
With a manager like Louis Van Gaal who’s always flipping the script, he’ll need players that are comfortable playing multiple positions. Di Maria can do that.
United really needs him
The Red Devils’ midfield has been all out of whack since the 2008-09 season, when they still had Cristiano Ronaldo, Darren Fletcher was in his prime, and Anderson was showing promise. Now United have Michael Carrick, who’s always between injuries, a bumbling Tom Cleverly, and a Fletcher that rarely produces above-average performances.
They’ve now also gone from choosing from Ronaldo, an ageless Ryan Giggs, a tireless Park Ji-Sung, and a then-menacing Nani to choosing from an erratic Ashley Young, an average Antonio Valencia, an undeveloped Adnan Januzaj, and an almost useless Nani.
Di Maria produced more chances for Real Madrid last season than all three of United’s current wide-out options put together last season.
Not to mention he’s ridiculously fast, and can play in the 110th minute as though his legs are just as fresh as they were in the 10th minute.
Julian Finney/Getty Images
He’s had an upward swing in the last couple of seasons for Real, and on the back of a wonderful World Cup, United is definitely buying high. However, there’s no reason to believe he won’t do well for them in the Premier League, and he’s well worth the money.
