Has Angel Di Maria Done Enough at PSG to Justify His £44M Price Tag?
Paris Saint-Germain are enjoying an excellent season. Laurent Blanc’s men were crowned Ligue 1 champions in record time, and they are also into a fourth consecutive UEFA Champions League quarter-final.
On top of that, Les Parisiens have already booked a date with Lille OSC at Stade de France for the Coupe de la Ligue final. They also have a Coupe de France semi-final against FC Lorient to look forward to on April 19.
One of the main contributors toward PSG’s success so far this campaign is summer signing Angel Di Maria.
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As reported by BBC Sport, the Argentina international arrived in Paris from Manchester United amid much fanfare back in early August. It is fair to say he has lived up to the hype and been worth every penny of his £44.3 million transfer fee so far.
Di Maria’s statistics this term are impressive; he has nine goals and 11 assists to his name from 24 Ligue 1 appearances.
El Fideo has added three more of each in eight Champions League outings, while he has also chipped in with one goal and two assists across five matches in both domestic cups.
It should also be noted that three of the 28-year-old’s five Coupe de la Ligue and Coupe de France appearances were brief—all for less than 30 minutes—as a late substitute.
In total, Di Maria has 13 goals and 16 assists from 37 games. Not bad for a player who was branded a “flop” after a disappointing single-season stay with Manchester United, where his stay at Old Trafford was marred by his poor relationship with coach Louis van Gaal.
The South American did not wait long to reveal his unhappiness under the Dutch tactician and spoke about the situation with ESPN Radio Argentina (h/t ESPN FC’s Kevin Palmer) shortly after completing his move to PSG.
"Van Gaal has his philosophy and one of the things that made me want to leave is that. It is difficult to adapt to Van Gaal. I had a couple of rows with him. I started well [at United] and after that I got injured. Things didn't go well for me and Van Gaal changed my position. I spoke with [Laurent] Blanc and his thinking was that I'd play in a similar position to where I did at Real Madrid.
"
The promises made by Blanc to Di Maria were not empty, and the former United, Real Madrid and Benfica man has occupied a similar role to the one he enjoyed at Santiago Bernabeu at Parc des Princes this season.
It took the exciting Argentinian time to get going in the French capital after he arrived with an injury he suffered during last summer’s Copa America in Chile.
However, the PSG No. 11 still managed to produce an eye-catching assist for Ezequiel Lavezzi’s goal in a 3-0 win away at AS Monaco on his debut.
Di Maria finally got motoring toward the end of 2015, and he has not slowed down since.
The man from Rosario has put in star performances against the likes of Real, Olympique Lyonnais and Chelsea so far, the big domestic and European matches he was bought to impress in—particularly in the Champions League.
Di Maria tallied a hat-trick of assists in the 5-1 rout of Lyon at Parc des Princes back in December, and he provided an assist in each leg of Les Parisiens’ Champions League last-16 encounter with Chelsea.
El Fideo was arguably the French champions’ best player at the Santiago Bernabeu during an unlucky 1-0 defeat to Real during the group stage.
He has also helped his team to domestic wins with moments of pure magic—such as his sublime volley in a 5-1 home win over Angers SCO—on numerous occasions.
On top of all that, Di Maria's passes and crosses often play a role in the build-up to goals, if not the final action before the finish.
The Albiceleste star has been the architect of countless other goals across all competitions and it would be fair to say that, along with the insatiable Zlatan Ibrahimovic and a reinvigorated Thiago Silva, he has been PSG's most influential player this term.
Had Di Maria not missed a few weeks at the start of the season because of the injury he picked up in Chile, his already impressive statistics would undoubtedly be even better.
PSG coach Blanc put the South American’s renaissance in Ligue 1 down to the simple matter of the player being happy after a miserable spell in Manchester.
Le President also paid tribute to Di Maria’s rapid adaptation to France when he was asked about it during a press conference back in January.
"It's not illogical. When a new foreign player arrives in a country that he doesn't know and where he doesn't know the language, it's not that easy. So I find that his acclimatisation has been good and the presence of some more South Americans has certainly helped.
But I honestly think that the city of Paris and the French mentality suits him. That's what he's said to me anyway. I think his adaptation has been a lot quicker than in Manchester, for example, for numerous reasons.
When he masters the language a bit more, he'll feel more at ease on the pitch and in everyday life. I think that will be characterised by a second half of the season that will be even better than the first.
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Blanc is being proved right. Di Maria has produced some excellent performances, such as his pair of displays against Chelsea in the Champions League last 16, and the Argentinian appears primed to play an even more influential role for PSG before the end of the campaign.
Although £44.3 million is a lot of money to pay for a player despite increasingly astronomical transfer fees, the French capital outfit are no strangers to overpaying for talent under their owner, Qatar Sports Investments (QSI).
However, if Di Maria can maintain his form and keep making similar contributions, the acquisition of the Argentina international would be hailed as a masterstroke in the future.
The South American has already proved he was worth the money paid. If he can lead Blanc’s men past the Champions league quarter-finals, people will start to consider him one of the best-value purchases of the QSI era to date.
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