According to reports from The Daily Mail yesterday evening, Arsenal are targeting Manchester United star Angel Di Maria.
The Argentina international is the most expensive signing in Red Devils and Premier League history, arriving at Old Trafford last summer for a record-breaking £59.7million.
His United tenure started well with a spate of match-winning performances – typified by his deft lob against Leicester City, which won the Premier League’s Goal of the Month award for September.
But the 27 year-old struggled more as the season went on and eventually found himself benched by manager Louis van Gaal. He didn’t make a league start after United’s clash with Newcastle in early March.
The Daily Mail claim the Red Devils would be willing to cut their losses on the ex-Benfica man this summer if the right deal came along – despite Di Maria insisting in June that he intends to stay on at Old Trafford.
Arsenal gaffer Arsene Wenger is a known long-term admirer of Di Maria’s and would love the add the former Real Madrid star to his starting Xi, alongside fellow ex-Blanco Mesut Ozil and Arsenal’s Player of the Year Alexis Sanchez in a formidable attacking midfield triplet.
The Gunners have spent significant sums on both Ozil and Sanchez over the last two summers (around £77m in total) but whether they have enough in the kitty to cover the vast majority of United’s original investment in Di Maria remains to be seen.