Having made a promising start to life at United, Di Maria’s form tailed off in November and he saw his place in the first team go to a rejuvenated Ashley Young, meaning the most expensive signing in British history had to make do with a place in the bench.
Di Maria has insisted that he is happy to stay with United and fight for his place, but it’s believed the Argentina international wants to leave the club and return to the continent – with Spain his preferred destination.
United boss Louis van Gaal admitted earlier this summer that he was unsure if the player would still be at Old Trafford when the season started.
PSG have had a long-standing interest in the winger and challenged United for his signature last summer once it became apparent that he was to be sold by Real Madrid.
Now it seems they are ready to land their man with France Football claiming PSG’s bid of 65million euros has been accepted by United – meaning United will lose an estimated £15million on their record outlay.
The Argentinian is due to meet up with the United squad this weekend after being given an extended break following his Copa America commitments during the summer. Both United and PSG are currently on a pre-season tour in the United States and are due to face each other on Thursday.Talks are already believed to be underway and the Parisian club are hoping to progress negotiations across the weekend.
Van Gaal’s side face Barcelona on Saturday night while PSG take on Premier League champions Chelsea not long after, before the two clubs meet each other where Di Maria might just be on the opposite side to his current team-mates.
The United boss refused to discuss the possibility of selling Di Maria, saying he only expects the player to link up with his team-mates for training in the USA.
“I expect him [Di Maria] tomorrow, because we have communicated that and they have responded on that,” said Van Gaal.
“I am not answering questions about transfers or the process.
“He [Di Maria] cannot play in the game [against Barcelona], because we have to build him up.
“When you come out of your holidays you cannot play immediately a game, so that is out of the question.
“It is not so difficult [dealing with transfer rumours] because I never answer the questions, because I can’t.
“I want to answer them but it’s not good for Manchester United, for the players and for me.
“Every word I speak about players who are in the [transfer] process is one word too much, because I have read a lot of interesting players that Manchester United should buy, but it’s not true of every player.”
The sale of Di Maria will increase rumours that United are planning a bid for their former player Cristiano Ronaldo, who is said to be unhappy with the training methods of recently-appointed Real Madrid boss Rafael Benitez.
United have already spent around £80million this summer, with their big spending criticised recently by Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger.
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