The summer of 2014 saw Angel Di Maria celebrate an amazing Champions League win as Real Madrid finally got their hands on the elusive La Decima. At the centre of that terrific campaign, it seemed as though this moment would solidify his place in the club’s already fascinating folklore.
Things soon turned sour for the Argentina international as he was, of course, shipped away from the Santiago Bernabeu in a big-money move to Manchester United. At the time, hopes were genuinely high that he could hold his own and, eventually, become a Red Devil legend.
How quickly things can change as in just over a season he’s gone from being one of the most lauded midfielders in the modern game to one branded a failure and a coward by so many.
But just how fair is that overall assessment?
Considering that he contributed directly to 13 of United’s league goals in a system that often seemed non-existent and very susceptible to flux and change, it’s quite ludicrous to heap so much blame on him, either for his own downfall or the club’s shortcomings.
Equally, it’s grossly unfair to castigate him for wanting to leave an environment that clearly didn’t suit him.
The simple fact of the matter is that Fideo did well in England considering what external motives fuelled his move away from La Liga in the first place, not to mention the fact that he had to contend with distressing personal issues such as his family home being burgled.
Add this to the notion that his big-name personality likely didn’t sit well with Louis van Gaal, and Di Maria was always facing an arduous uphill battle. After all, the Dutchman has rarely allowed individual flair and brilliance to come before his team-centric approach, especially when his squad was often decimated by injuries, and that certainly suffocated the Argentine star.
A history of LVG clashing with the likes of the highly-skilled Rivaldo and Romario, amongst others, in favour of implementing his own personal vision offers enough precedents to suggest that Di Maria probably wasn’t shown the sort of compassion he was used to – and it definitely created friction and a working environment that simply didn’t, well…work.
As for all the talk echoing back and forth about whether or not Paris Saint-Germain is a bigger club than the 13-time Premier League winners, or whether they’re on the same plain as Barcelona or Real Madrid is ridiculous; any team lucky enough to have, and utilise effectively, a player of his quality among their ranks has the capacity to do damage to any team on its day.
He’s a match-changer, a former European champion and he possesses one of the deadliest styles of play in the beautiful game – in reality, he’s no less a player now than he was before and he can help his new team reach yet loftier heights, with the Champions League crown certainly on the wish-list.
For starters, once the deal eventually goes through with the Ligue 1 champions, it will be important for Laurent Blanc to ingratiate his new purchase with the team as well as introducing him to the Parisian lifestyle and culture. Getting Di Maria on side and making him at ease in as many aspects as possible will certainly mean a lot, and it should fast-track his route back to the levels of otherworldly skill he’s comfortable with.
Indeed, with this move the 27-year-old has the opportunity to hit back at his critics and prove them wrong.
Alongside the world-class strike partnership of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Edinson Cavani, the ex-United midfielder can regain his excellent form of old in double-quick time.
However, it’s with fellow countrymen Javier Pastore and Ezequiel Lavezzi that Les Parisiens incoming signing could work best of all, especially considering how well they know one another’s game, having accompanied each other many times on international duty – most recently, of course, during the Copa America.
In short, the next few months will not only see Di Maria heal, but he’ll come back stronger than ever before with a point to prove, and as he’s one who rarely does the simple things simply, it promise to be exciting watching him elaborate on it.
