Was Angel Di Maria Playing for His Real Madrid Future Against Granada?

He flew out of the traps; within four minutes he'd set up Karim Benzema, the French forward lofting the ball wide. Three minutes later he was the first to test Roberto in the Granada goal and then, in the tenth minute, it was no surprise that Angel Di Maria was at the roots of the Real Madrid goal.

Just before the weekend the BBC had reported Arsenal's interest in the Argentinian wide man. And even in the hours before the match in Andalusia, Talksport had suggested that Madrid had given their approval to a bid of around £30 million from the London club, via Yahoo!.

When the teams were announced for the concluding fixture of week two in La Liga though, Di Maria was very much involved in Carlo Ancelotti's lineup.

Having started on the bench against Real Betis, the 25-year-old came into an extremely attack-heavy Los Blancos side—Luka Modric, Isco, Mesut Oezil and Cristiano Ronaldo joined him behind Benzema.

Immediately he set about showing the variation he can offer Madrid on the right side, as opposed to central play makers like Isco and Oezil. 

The first 15 minutes were all about Di Maria.

Firstly, he played an intelligent pass to Benzema for what should have been the opener. Then, he tested Roberto's hands from distance before his cross picked out Ronaldo in acres at the far post. The Portuguese forward's touch let him down, but Benzema was on hand to sweep Madrid into the lead—it would prove the match's only goal.

Five minutes later he was at the heart of what Madrid thought was their second goal. Having been fouled just inside his own half, Di Maria had the speed of thought to hit a pinpoint pass in behind the Granada defense; Oezil supplied a beautiful lofted finish.

It was ruled out though, the referee correctly ruling that Di Maria had taken the free kick with the ball moving.

Madrid continued to dominate the first half, with the width—although he occasionally dropped inside—that Di Maria provided proving a major asset.

"I'd love to stay because I'm very happy with my teammates and with the way people treat me," Di Maria told Argentinian newspaper Ole at the start of the summer, and his performance at Los Carmenes suggested he was playing for his Madrid future, via Marca.

Despite that though, it will still remain an uphill battle for him to stay in the side—particularly with Gareth Bale's pending arrival, via The Telegraph.

Oezil was visibly disgruntled when, for the second week running, Ancelotti opted to withdraw him. Isco looks a shoe-in for the Italian's 11 at the moment and Ronaldo and Bale will, you'd have thought, be guaranteed starts.

Where would that leave Di Maria?

Will Ancelotti really remember his encouraging first half performance against Granada when it matters?

Di Maria may want to stay, the Bernabeu fans may want him to stay, Ancelotti may even want him to stay too, but the maths won't work. If Arsenal's bid is real, or any other club comes forward, the Argentinian may be forced to reconsider his desire to stay if he wants regular first team football in a World Cup year.