Angel Di Maria: Man Utd agree British record fee of £59.7m
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Manchester United have agreed a British record transfer fee of £59.7m to sign Real Madrid winger Angel Di Maria.
The Argentina international, 26, is in Manchester and was due to have a medical on Tuesday, after which the move - which will take United's summer spending to £132m - will be confirmed.
BBC Sport European football expert Andy Brassell on Di Maria - from 'pigeon-toed runt' to British transfer record buy |
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"He is not a Real Madrid reject by any stretch of the imagination. They want him to go because he wouldn't accept the situation of getting the wages he is getting at the moment, which is much less than Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale. (Real coach) Carlo Ancelotti wanted to keep him. He was one of their best players during the second half of last season. Di Maria is so determined. People wrote him off when Bale arrived. He proved that he deserved to be there at Real in a different position he had initially proved himself in. He reinvented himself. You couldn't have imagined it when he first arrived in Europe. He looked like a bit of a pigeon-toed runt to be honest, awkward and not at all athletic at Benfica. The amount he has grown at Real is extraordinary. I think he will play deeper in midfield for Manchester United but they also need other players around him to get the best out of him." |
He could make his debut away to Burnley in the Premier League on Saturday.
The fee will eclipse the £50m Chelsea paid Liverpool for striker Fernando Torres, external in 2011.
Di Maria scores late winner in World Cup
United last broke the British transfer record when they paid Leeds £29.1m for Rio Ferdinand in 2002.
The Old Trafford club have already bought left-back Luke Shaw, midfielder Ander Herrera and Di Maria's Argentina team-mate Marcos Rojo for a combined £72m this summer.
"Di Maria has not trained with us today and he came in to say goodbye to the players and people at the club," said Real boss Carlo Ancelotti on Sunday.
"The decision is his and the club has done what it could to keep him here."
Di Maria injured a thigh in Argentina's World Cup quarter-final win over Belgium but was still named on the 10-man shortlist for the Fifa player of the tournament award.
Biggest transfer fees paid by a British club | |||
|---|---|---|---|
2011 | Fernando Torres | £50m | Liverpool to Chelsea |
2013 | Mesut Ozil | £42.4m | Real Madrid to Arsenal |
2011 | Sergio Aguero | £38m | Atletico Madrid to Manchester City |
2014 | Juan Mata | £37.1m | Chelsea to Manchester United |
2011 | Andy Carroll | £35m | Newcastle to Liverpool |
2014 | Alexis Sanchez | £35m | Barcelona to Arsenal |
He joined Real from Benfica for £36m in 2010, and won La Liga in 2012 and the Champions League last season.
Former Real president Ramon Calderon said he "does not like" the idea of Di Maria leaving, adding: "Normally a club who owns the very good players don't like to sell them."
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