Argentina star Angel Di Maria has launched an extraordinary attack on his former club Manchester United, claiming he didn’t “give a f***” about taking the club’s famous No.7 shirt number.
United shelled out a club-record £59.7million fee to sign Di Maria from Real Madrid in August 2014.
Di Maria proved to be a sound addition at first, scoring a memorable goal against Leicester City and registering 10 assists and three goals in 22 appearances.
But he struggled to adapt to life in Manchester and had trouble settling in with his team-mates after failing to improve his English.
His future became uncertain after his house was burgled while he was playing for the club and when Paris Saint-Germain offered £45m to sign the winger, he pushed to leave Old Trafford.
Now Di Maria has lifted the lid on his short spell in England claiming that the No.7 shirt given to him — worn by club legends such as Eric Cantona and David Beckham — had no special meaning.
“I didn’t give a f*** about the Manchester United No.7,” Di Maria was quoted telling Libero on TyC Sports in a wide-ranging interview.
“At first they talked to me a lot about it… it was just a shirt.”
Di Maria’s disdain for his former coach Louis van Gaal was evident during his nightmare stint in the Premier League and the midfielder singled out the Dutchman for criticism.
“My problem at Manchester was the coach,” he added. “Van Gaal was the worst of my career.
“I would score, assist, and the next day he would show me my misplaced passes.
“He displaced me from one day to the other, he didn’t like players being more than him.”
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