Football
ESPN staff 9y

Man Utd's Angel Di Maria: Money problems behind failed PSG move

Angel Di Maria has told Telefoot that Paris Saint-Germain's financial problems prevented him from leaving Real Madrid for the Ligue 1 champions this summer.

Di Maria, 26, signed for Manchester United in a 59.7 million-pound deal despite reported interest from the Parisian giants, and has scored three goals and set up five more as the Red Devils sit seventh in the Premier League table.

PSG president Nasser Al Khelaifi claimed the Argentina international was "too expensive" for his side following the club's 60 million-euro fine for breaching UEFA Financial Fair Play regulations, and Di Maria now says money proved to be the decisive factor behind the failed transfer.

"PSG, I think they had a money problem and they couldn't buy players" he said. "This is the main reason I didn't go there. Playing in the French league would please a lot of players.

"Now I'm in the English league. But you never know, there is a lot of movement in football. You can never predict where you're going to play.

"There were a lot of clubs interested in me, a lot really. But Manchester United appeared and didn't go away. They absolutely wanted me and it happened."

Despite opting to leave Champions League winners Real for a club who failed to qualify for continental football this season, Di Maria is convinced he made the correct decision.

"It's a different style of football here at Manchester United," he continued. "I'm very happy. I don't have regrets about leaving Real Madrid. I think I won everything I wanted with Real: La Liga, the Champions League and the Copa del Rey."

Despite seeing a proposed move to PSG fall through, Di Maria has not ruled out moving to France in future, adding: "It could have been a good experience for me to go to Paris. I know I'm still young, perhaps I'll go to PSG one day. I don't know how it will all end."

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