Angel Di Maria arrives at Manchester United's Carrington training ground ahead of £59.7million move from Real Madrid

Angel Di Maria arrives at Manchester United's Carrington training ground ahead of book

Manchester United hope to formally announce the signing of Angel di Maria on Tuesday after agreeing terms on a British record transfer fee of £59.7million plus add ons with Real Madrid.

United officials held meetings with their Real Madrid counterparts on Sunday evening and resumed talks on Monday as they bartered down the £75million asking price.

The scale of the extra fees due from United will depend on performances and the prospect of Di Maria winning the Ballon D'Or.

The Argentina international posed with fans at Madrid airport on Monday afternoon prior to flying into Manchester on a private plane to meet up with United manager Louis Van Gaal late last night.

Van Gaal had been at Carrington overseeing the first team squad's 4pm warm-down session and training ahead of tonight's Capital One Cup second round tie at MK Dons.

Di Maria's arrival will give the club a welcome lift following a disappointing start to the season that has delivered just one point from their opening two Premier League games but there is concern that his signing, as stellar as it is, fails to address United's real needs and Van Gaal is pressing the club to deliver two more players over the coming days.

Ajax utility player Daley Blind and Juventus midfielder Arturo Vidal are among those being considered.

Madrid are also agreeing terms over United right-back Guillermo Varela. The 21-year-old Uruguayan only joined United a year ago from Penarol but will move to Real Madrid's B team Castilla to play under Zinedine Zidane. The deal is likely to be a loan with a view to a permanent £3million transfer.

Di Maria will join up with his new United teammates at training on Thursday and the club hope to formalise his work permit and registration by 12noon Friday if he is to figure against Burnley on Saturday.

A work permit, however, has yet to be arranged for his compatriot Marcos Rojo with the Bank Holiday helping to delay the process.

Di Maria, hailed as the best player in Spain, 'surpassing even Lionel Messi' according to former Argentina coach Cesar Luis Menotti, has at least got United supporters excited. 

A need for more such names is underlined by the fact United face MK Dons tonight in the Capital One second round without seven first-team players. Chris Smalling has joined Luke Shaw, Ander Herrera, Michael Carrick, Marouane Fellaini, Jesse Lingard and Rafael da Silva on the sidelines.

Danny Welbeck, Javier Hernandez and Shinji Kagawa are set to be involved from the start, with youngsters Reece James and James Wilson also in contention to play. Juventus have made an enquiry about the availability of Hernandez after Arsenal stalled on the proposed loan of Lukas Podolski.

Welbeck remains a target for other clubs with Everton, Tottenham, Newcastle and Sunderland rivalled by Turkish club Galatasaray.

Man Utd to make £32M bid for Fiorentina star Cuadrado today

Manchester United are making a major bid for Fiorentina for Juan Cuadrado this week.
With a deal for former Sporting CP defender Marcos Rojo now wrapped up, United will focus on the Colombia international.
Florence sources say United will offer £32 million today with the view to signing Cuadrado before Saturday.
The wing-back has been managed carefully by Fiorentina since his return from World Cup duty and did not take part in their glamour Warsaw friendly against Real Madrid on the weekend.
United boss Louis van Gaal wants a deal agreed and Cuadrado registered in time to face Sunderland this weekend.

BEAT THE BAN! Barcelona scramble to sign Reus, Cuadrado

Barcelona are moving to sign Borussia Dortmund midfielder Marco Reus and Fiorentina wing-back Juan Cuadrado.
Barca are scrambling after their transfer ban - to begin in January 16 - was upheld by FIFA upon appeal yesterday.
The Catalans intend to sign both Reus and Cuadrado in the coming days before loaning them immediately back to their respective clubs for the season.
They want both players tied up now, rather than risk losing them during the next two transfer windows.

Angel Di Maria is Real Madrid's 'best player', claims Diego Simeone (yes, even above Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale!)

Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone has raised eyebrows by claiming that Angel Di Maria is city rival Real's best player, above the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale.

Simeone watched from the sidelines as his Atletico side held their Madrid rivals to a 1-1 draw in the Spanish Super Cup first leg on Tuesday night.

Di Maria's late introduction from the bench changed the game, with the Argentina winger - a target for Manchester United - setting up an the opening goal for James Rodriguez. Atletico levelled the tie through Raul Garcia with just two minutes remaining.

 

Simeone hailed Di Maria's impact after the game and insisted it did not surprise him that his compatriot was so effective.

'The game changed with Di Maria,' Simeone said. 'It's logical - he's the best player they have.'

When pressed whether Di Maria deserved to be singled out above Real's so-called galacticos - Ronaldo, Bale and Rodriguez chief among them - Simeone insisted: 'He's the player most likely to create openings in the opposition half.'

It seems the Atletico manager has a point, as his fellow Argentine - while well behind Ronaldo and Bale in terms of goals scored - created the most last season, 22, compared with 11 made by the Portuguese and 16 by the Welshman.

Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti would seem to disagree with his Simeone, however, having started the game with Di Maria on the bench.

 

But Louis van Gaal is desperate to add Di Maria to his paper-thin squad at Old Trafford following United's opening-day Premier League defeat at home against Swansea.

United are prepared to commit as much as £100million to their pursuit of Di Maria. Van Gaal needs world-class additions and has told executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward to do all he can to bring the 26-year-old winger to the club.

It is understood United have told Di Maria that, with performance-based incentives, they will pay him around £200,000 a week. Over a five-year deal that would take the club's investment to £100m when a transfer fee of around £50m is included. 

 

 

Marcos Rojo and Sergio Aguero fell out during the World Cup... and now they will face off in the Manchester derby

Manchester derbies may have an added degree of spice with Argentina World Cup team-mates Sergio Aguero and Marcos Rojo squaring up to each other on November 2.

Rojo sealed a £16million move to Manchester United from Sporting Lisbon on Wednesday and the two World Cup finalists were said to have exchanged angry words earlier in this summer’s tournament after Rojo invited a friend of his, Argentina pop star El Polaco, into the dressing room after one of their wins during the group stage.

Trouble is that El Polaco is the former partner of another Argentine pop star, Karina La Princesita, whom Aguero has been dating.

 

 

The two pop singers, who are big Cumbia stars, a popular Latin-music style, split acrimoniously last year but have a four-year-old daughter from their relationship.

According to Argentine paper La Gaceta, Aguero was unimpressed with Rojo inviting the singer into the team dressing room and had angry words with his team-mate.

Aguero himself was previously married to Giannina Maradona, the daughter of Diego, and they have a six-year-old son from their relationship.

Aguero and Rojo seemed to have managed their differences through the rest of the World Cup, with both appearing in the semi-final and final team together, once Aguero had recovered from injury. 

Nevertheless, there may well be a degree of extra interest in the handshake between the compatriots when the two Manchester teams meet at the Etihad Stadium.

 

 

 

Manchester United must sign more than just Marcos Rojo to bolster Louis van Gaal's squad... or Ed Woodward's job is on the line

Marcos Rojo is on his way to Manchester United, we are told. He needs to be. Not just for Louis van Gaal, as the deficiencies in his squad bite.

Executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward must also start landing the big ones if he is to remain in his elevated role at Old Trafford. The buck won’t stop with the manager this time, if United fall short.

After Woodward’s dramatic intervention last season, United cannot continue sacking highly paid coaches to cure dysfunction. Sooner or later, they have to address a wider issue: the capability of the man charged with making the signings.

Woodward got away with it under David Moyes. He failed to deliver in his new role every bit as much as the manager, but had huge credit with the Glazers from his previous work at the club. It was easier to remove Moyes and keep the executive who had almost doubled United’s commercial revenue.

Van Gaal’s track record, however, makes him an unlikely fall guy. There was no prior evidence that Moyes was a title-winning manager, but that is not true of Van Gaal.

History suggests that given the tools, he succeeds. This time the blame rebounds on his floundering facilitator.

The Glazers will not wish to lose the services of the admired Woodward - but they may prefer him to return to his area of expertise. Last summer was a bust, the winter bought Juan Mata at vast expense and now United are running out of time again as the window closes.

There has been no transfer activity since June and, even allowing for injuries, United’s weakened state is troubling. It was never going to be easy to replace Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand, but at least the club had lead time. It has been known for eight months that Vidic was leaving and Ferdinand’s performances increasingly represented the end of an era.

There should have been planning. Rojo and Daley Blind of Ajax, should have already been in the team come Saturday’s match with Swansea City.

The pursuit of Angel di Maria would appear to be a recent, opportunistic request by Van Gaal. After an outstanding season with Real Madrid, few would have thought he would be available this summer. It makes sense to take advantage of Madrid’s overcrowded roster.

Yet replacing Vidic and Ferdinand? That should have been done long ago. Shorn of European competition this season, Manchester United have been reduced to paying outlandish sums and can ill-afford another season out of the Champions League.

Yet they are already playing catch-up on their rivals.

The worry, if the defence cannot be overhauled successfully at this late stage, is that they end up with what is available, rather than what they need. Woodward has to get his business done, and quickly.

If not, the consequences for the club, and their executive vice-chairman, are potentially status-changing