Football
Ben Gladwell, Italy correspondent 10y

Salvatore Sirigu says PSG are strong enough without Angel Di Maria

Paris Saint-Germain are strong enough to win the Champions League this season even if they did miss out on signing Angel Di Maria, according to Salvatore Sirigu.

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Goalkeeper Sirigu told La Gazzetta dello Sport that the Ligue 1 side did not need the Argentine to be able to launch a serious challenge for European club football's ultimate prize this season.

Di Maria, 26, ultimately opted for Manchester United, signing for the Premier League side before the transfer deadline.

According to the French club, UEFA's financial fair play rules were one of the reasons why they did not firm up their interest in a player they claimed wanted to join them over the Red Devils.

According to Sirigu, however, the Parisians already have enough stars in their squad.

"We're strong enough even without Di Maria," he said. "We've got [Zlatan] Ibrahimovic, and this could also be the year of [Javier] Pastore. [Edinson] Cavani is working hard for the good of the team and we all want to make up for last season's exit in the quarterfinals to Chelsea."

Sirigu does not like to be considered as one of those stars. The Italian, who finds Gianluigi Buffon blocking his way to regular international football, is nevertheless happy with his choice of leaving Italy to join the French champions.

"If it wasn't for PSG, then maybe I would still be at Palermo now," he said. "But it was right to leave, to improve myself. [Ciro] Immobile moving to Borussia Dortmund will also do him and the national team good.

"I chose PSG in 2011 for the project they had, not for fame. Then it makes me smile when I come to [Italian national team training centre] Coverciano and I'm reminded that I was the Italian who had featured the most in the Champions League in recent years."

That is not enough for him to dislodge Buffon from the national team throne, however.

"Buffon is unique in his longevity," Sirigu admitted. "He's able to stay at the top. [Antonio] Conte stuck with him during his first games and that's a sign of the faith he has in him."

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