Manchester United's record signing Angel Di Maria - in classic football parlance - "blasted" his former club Real Madrid yesterday in an interview with Radio America. The Argentinean winger saved most of his ire for Madrid president Florentino Perez and again stated he never wanted to leave Madird in the first place:
“I saw what [Perez] said. To earn what Cristiano does, I’d have to have won the Ballon d’Or.
“During the World Cup, I was only thinking about the World Cup. I don’t know where the Spanish journalists came up with all the things they said about me. Regardless, Real Madrid’s coffers will do very well with the €75 million they earned from my sale. The recovered what they spent.
“I never asked to leave Real Madrid. I never wanted to. Nobody said anything to me or my representative about staying, which led us to believe that wanted to sell me.
Di Maria went on to tell a rather damning story about Madrid apparently trying to force him to not play in the World Cup final:
“What I love the most is playing with Argentina. I received a letter at 11 from Real Madrid, asking me not to play [in the World Cup final]. I was thinking about playing in the final, although I knew that if I did there was a 90% chance I’d reinjure myself. When I read it, I ripped up the letter. I suffered a lot that morning. That was the worst thing to ever happen in my life.
Di Maria went on to speculate that Cristiano Ronaldo would eventually be sick of life at Madrid which surely means Ed Woodward is preparing a 300m bid as we speak.
