Angel Di Maria and Manchester United: A match made in heaven?

The only constant is change, they say. Football is no stranger to that idiom. Many are the clubs that, at the pinnacle of glory in one time, now wallow in the depths of mediocrity and oblivion. 20 time Premier League winners Manchester United could not escape the overarching implication of that elegant saying either, going from Premier League champions to a 7th place finish in the matter of 12 months. One Mr Darwin had postulated that only the fittest survive, and United learnt that in particularly cruel fashion; rather than a champion team, they looked like a rag-tag outfit held together by a coaching fabric(courtesy David Moyes) that was woefully inadequate to match up to the rapid advances in manpower and playing style the other clubs were making.

So out goes David Moyes, and Louis Van Gaal, or King Louis, walks in, a reputation of calling a spade a useless spade preceding him, with the onus of restoring Manchester United to the riches and glory it had grown accustomed to under the reign of Sir Alex Ferguson. No easy task, with the team in urgent need of reinforcements to their player roster. While United have been particularly hit in the defense ( Evra, Vidic and Ferdinand have all left) department and a rather unimaginative and lacklustre midfield department( where they got Herrera to address these issues) , wing play remains a concern for them . This deficiency achieves more significance and criticality given the fact that the wings have traditionally been United’s forte, with such illustrious players as Cristiano Ronaldo , Ryan Giggs and David Beckham to have graced this position in the past. So when Argentinian Angel di Maria’s name popped up on the transfer grapevine after being reported to be out of favour at Madrid following James Rodriguez’ arrival, Manchester United sense an opportunity. They have further been encouraged by the breakdown in talks between di Maria and PSG, said to be favourites to sign him. And when Van Gaal talked about how he has to change his style of play in the absence of a quality winger (you can hardly blame him, Valencia, Young and Nani are his options) “like Ronaldo or Di Maria”, the rumour mills went on overdrive.

So is Angel Di Maria really the answer to United’s woes in the wings? Is he worth the 55 million pounds that is being quoted? The more pertinent question is, would he fit into Van Gaal’s 3-5-2 line up? Angel Di Maria would bring to the team incredible pace and a top notch work rate, something that has enabled him to torment the opposition with remarkable ease at Madrid and in the Argentinian national side and two qualities that would really add value to United’s brand of football. He also brings with him versatility in his ability to play in the central midfield where along with new signing Herrera,, he could really add sting and creativity to the United midfield. Another possibility, in the event of Di Maria’s arrival, could be a switch in Van Gaal’s strategy from a 3-5-2 to a 4-3-3 that would also give him the luxury of playing in a wing-forward role.

Should it come to pass, Angel Di Maria’s move to Manchester United would certainly add firepower to the Red Devils’ attacking setup. The Argentine created 90 chances for Madrid last season, with 17 ending up at the back of the net; impressive figures, to say the least. However, his arrival would almost surely spell the end for Shinji Kagawa, who has had a rather lukewarm career at United. With just around 3 weeks left to go before the transfer window closes, it would indeed be interesting to track this development, and see if Angel Di Maria actually ends up plying his trade at Old Trafford.