Ángel Di María completes a return to Benfica. The Portuguese top club takes over the 35-year-old Argentinian wing attacker from Juventus on a free transfer. Fabrizio Romano reports this and is endorsed by all major Portuguese newspapers.
Di María returns to former club
The Portuguese newspaper A BOLA already linked Di María to O Glorioso on the front page on Monday. According to Romano, that transfer is now almost complete: Di María signs a one-year contract.
Di María previously played for Benfica. In 2007, the Portuguese superpower took over Di María from the Argentinian Rosario Central for a transfer fee of eight million euros. At the Portuguese top club, the wing attacker broke through in Europe. Partly thanks to five goals and twelve assists in the 2009/2010 season, he made Benfica champion of Portugal for the second time in sixteen years.
After that year, he transferred to Real Madrid, where he won everything there was to win. The Argentinian was in the base during the Champions League final won by Real in 2013/2014. He ended up at Juventus last season via Paris Saint-Germain. After a year, the roads between the Old Lady and Di María are already separating.
Last winter, the wing forward scored one of Argentina’s three goals in the World Cup final against France. He made it 2-0 after a beautifully played counter. Di María currently has 132 caps and 29 goals for Argentina.
After Ajax farewell, Blind thought about returning to Manchester United
Speaking of former Manchester United employees, after his abrupt departure from Ajax, Daley Blind signed a contract with Bayern Munich at the beginning of this year. The 33-year-old defender initially toyed with the idea of offering himself to Manchester United.
Under the leadership of trainer Alfred Schreuder, Blind fell by the wayside at Ajax last season. Just before the turn of the year, the team from Amsterdam tore up the contract of the veteran. Antwerp FC showed serious interest, but Blind chose an adventure in Munich. Yet his destiny could have been elsewhere.
Speaking on the UTD Podcast, the official Manchester United podcast, Blind admitted to thinking about a second term at United. The Orange-international felt the temptation to contact manager Erik ten Hag. In the end that didn’t happen. He revealed, “No, I didn’t call him. But he has the same agent as me, so the connection is not far away.”
Not necessary
According to Blind, Ten Hag and United, where the defender was under contract between 2014 and 2018, did not need him either. “I am very grateful for the time I had with him. I learned a lot from him,” he said.
