Why Have Real Madrid Lost Faith in PSG Target Angel Di Maria?
Gareth Bale's arrival at the Bernabeu was supposed to be the domino that triggered the end of Angel Di Maria's Real Madrid career.
It didn't work out like that, though, and Carlo Ancelotti, a big fan of the 26-year-old Argentine international, instead allowed Mesut Ozil to leave for English Premier League side Arsenal.
What followed was a season of blissfully brilliant performances from Di Maria that were both energetic and effective.
He'd played centrally for Benfica and Argentina previously, but he'd never done so on a regular basis for Madrid, where his common home had been on the right wing.
For that reason, Di Maria's departure was the natural conclusion to draw from Bale's signing.
However, Ancelotti had a plan, and it bore plenty of fruit throughout a season that saw Madrid's No. 22 score seven goals and provide 22 assists across La Liga and the Champions League, per data from WhoScored.
Impressive in the Champions League final against Atletico Madrid and a scorer in the Copa del Rey final win over Barcelona, he was undoubtedly among the club's top five performers across a campaign which ended with the lifting of La Decima.
Therefore, it's somewhat surprising to see that he is once again being ushered out the door just 12 months after he was last expected to leave.
Miguel Angel Lara of Marca reported earlier this month that the French club Paris Saint-Germain were interested in Di Maria, and with James Rodriguez now set to complete a move to the Spanish capital, per Carmen Colino of AS, that transfer could move up through the gears.
And despite Hugo Cerezo, also of Marca, writing that "Carletto does not want to see one of his preferred players on his way out of the Bernabeu," it seems that the midfielder's time with the club is at an end.
After admitting last year, per Goal, that Ancelotti was the reason he stayed, it seems like the Italian won't be able to do enough this summer to keep Di Maria dressed in white.
So if the manager wants Di Maria to stay, why does it seem like he's still on the verge of leaving?
Perhaps the most simple answer is economics.
With UEFA's Financial Fair Play rules lurking in the corner of every big club's boardroom—Manchester City and PSG have already been punished—it is becoming increasingly difficult to go and spend big bucks without recovering some of it by flogging some players too.
With James' arrival expected to be rubber-stamped on Tuesday, plus last week's signing of Toni Kroos and the possibility of Keylor Navas coming in too, Madrid will have spent over €100 million during this transfer window.
And on the back of a season which drew consistently high performances and ended with a decent World Cup for his country in Brazil, Di Maria, who is still only 26, carries a high price to any potential suitors.
In fact, by selling Di Maria, Real Madrid can go a large way to offsetting the expected €75 million outlay on James.
Additionally, for whatever reason, Di Maria doesn't currently have the reputation to satisfy the Madrid hierarchy’s taste (Ancelotti excluded) for galacticos who can be marketed to a worldwide audience, and they would rather see World Cup winner Kroos and World Cup hero James’ faces plastered across adverts instead.
It's highly unlikely anyone has lost faith in Di Maria's playing ability, but in layman's terms, he's just not the flavour of the month anymore.
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