David de Gea set for bumper pay rise
An outstanding season in between the posts for Manchester United’s 22 year old shot stopper David de Gea, which ended with the youngster claiming his first Premier League title, is set to get even more rewarding with the player poised to become a whole lot richer.

De Gea was brought to Old Trafford from Atletico Madrid two years ago on a five year contract. He was handed rather attractive wages of £55,000 a week, and is set for a bumper pay rise according to the Sun with his weekly wage set to rise to £75,000. While a £20,000 a week pay rise might not sound like much, it does mean the youngster will be a million pounds richer at the end of the year!

Rumor has it the pay rise is accompanied by a 2 year contract extension, aimed to tie down De Gea to Man United till 2018 and see off interest in the youngster from FC Barcelona, who continue to scour the market looking for a long term replacement for their veteran star Victor Valdes.

The 22 year old was reportedly being targeted by Barcelona as one of the possible replacements for Valdes, and United will no doubt hope that the improved wages on offer will convince the youngster to stay on at Old Trafford rather than seek an early return to Spain.

De Gea’s contract extension could compel Barcelona to look at alternate options, including quite possibly Liverpool’s Pepe Reina.

The Manchester United shot stopper was bought from Atletico Madrid for an elevated price of £17.8million. The Spanish U-21 keeper had a mediocre first season with the new Premier League champions before an incredible second season where he kept 11 clean sheets in 28 matches and also won the European U-21 Championships with Spain.

Jamie Carragher: Luis Suarez is expected to stay

Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher has thrown his weight behind unsettled striker Luis Suarez, giving fans reason to believe that the 26 year old Uruguayan international will not quit Anfield this summer.

Carragher, who retired from Liverpool this summer and is on course to becoming a media pundit, shared in an interview with the Metro, “Suarez is very important for the team and you want to be keeping your best players, which is what he is.”

Luis Suarez had asked Liverpool to allow him to leave the club last month. The Uruguayan blamed the media for making his life in Liverpool difficult and declared that he wanted to test himself at the highest level of the game by moving to Spanish giants Real Madrid.

Just a week after the 26 year old made his intentions clear about not wanting to continue with the Reds, Real Madrid were allegedly ready to place a £45 million bid for the striker. Should such a bid arrive, Liverpool will find it very hard to reject the offer.

Carragher though continues to maintain that he thinks that Suarez will stay. He also shared that he knew that a lot of big clubs are interested in the Uruguay and Liverpool striker, something that one would expect from any top player.

Suarez would be a tough player to replace but like always Liverpool have a backup plan in place and they would target Barcelona striker David Villa, who is Spain’s all time leading goal scorer, but hasn’t been given enough opportunities to showcase his ability at the Catalan giants. With Neymar coming into the picture it will be harder for him at Barcelona, and a move to Liverpool will probably help his chances of breaking back into the Spain starting eleven for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Brazil defeated Uruguay (2-1): Brazil march to the Finals

Brazil beat Uruguay 2-1 at the Belo Horizonte in an ill tempered and rather feisty all-South-American clash to advance to the Final of the 2013 Confederations Cup. The match was not much of a spectacle as it lacked the quality that one would usually associate with the beautiful game, and was instead littered with fouls and rarely featured good flowing football.

Much like Brazil’s final group game against Italy there was little to talk about in the first 40 odd minutes barring a David Luiz foul on the Uruguayan captain Diego Lugano in the penalty area which was spotted by the referee. Diego Forlan stepped up to take the penalty but was thwarted by Julio Cesar much to the delight of the partisan fans.

Brazil looked threatening in the attacking third, but quality chances were hard to come by. Yet there were some positives for Felipe Scolari to take away with Hulk and Neymar seeming to gel together for the first time in the tournament.

Right at the end of the first half Paulinho brilliantly picked out Neymar with a long ball over the top. The Barcelona bound youngster controlled the ball exceptionally and beat his marker for pace before attempting to chip the onrushing Muslera in goal. The shot was well saved by Muslera, but fell right into the center of the penalty area where Mr. Right Place at the Right Time, Fred, was on hand to slice the ball into the bottom corner.

Much to the delight of the home fans, Brazil went into the break a goal to the good.

Three minutes into the second half, Brazil was caught out at the back. David Luiz’s clearance pinballed around the box off Luis Suarez, before Thiago Silva’s rushed effort was stolen away by Edinson Cavani, who was deployed on the right wing. The highly rated Uruguayan striker made no mistake, finally getting off the mark in the tournament, by lashing home a left footed drive that gave Julio Cesar no chance.

Both the teams did have a fair number of chances in a considerably more entertaining second half with Brazil spared the blushes when Silva’s header from an Uruguay corner sneaked over his own crossbar, while Fred’s ambitious volley from substitute Bernard’s cross, sailed into the stands.

The match had extra time written all over it, but 4 minutes from the end Brazil scored the winning goal from a corner which was headed in at the back post from Real Madrid target Paulinho.

Brazil advanced to the Confederations Cup Final for the third consecutive time, and they will face off against the winner of Italy - Spain contest in Rio on Sunday.

Teams:

Brazil – Julio Cesar, Dani Alves, Thiago Silva, David Luiz, Marcelo, Neymar (92` Dante), Paulinho, Luiz Gustavo, Oscar (73` Hernanes), Hulk (64` Bernard) and Fred

Substitutes- Jefferson, Dante, Hernanes, Bernard, Lucas

Uruguay- Muslera, Lugano, Godin, Maxi Pereira, Caceres, Christian Rodriguez, Arevalo Rios, Alvaro Gonzales (83`Gargano), Luis Suarez, Edinson Cavani and Diego Forlan

Substitutes- Castillo, Gargano, Alvaro Pereira, Ramirez, Abel Hernandez

Final Score: Brazil 2-1 Uruguay ( 41` Fred, 48` Cavani, 86` Paulinho)

Juventus agree a £10 million deal for Carlos Tevez with Manchester City
Carlos Tevez is set to end his unsettled stay in both England and Manchester after Manchester City and Juventus came to terms for Tevez for £10 million. The 29 year old is set to sign a three year contract in Turin when he is done with his medical on Wednesday.

An initial fee of £7.6 million will rise to £10 million if the Italians qualify for the Champions League in each of the next three seasons which is a very likely occurrence. City will also receive up to £2.5 million if Juventus win a trophy in these three years.

The Citizens’ chiefs are believed to be delighted at having sold the former Manchester United and West Ham striker a year before he became a free agent so that they can recover some of their initial investment.

Both Milan and Juve were keen on buying the Argentinian international for a while now but Milan’s chances dimmed after they failed to raise funds through their attempted sale of flopped signing Robinho, incidentally also a former Manchester City player.

Tevez was one of the most controversial players in the whole of England. The striker, who was amazing during his time at Old Trafford, left the club for their arch-rivals Manchester City. His drama didn't end here; he also put in a transfer request just one and half years later, which was rejected. This led to him refusing to take the pitch as a substitute in a Champions League game against Bayern Munich and ended with a prolonged sabbatical after a fall out with then Manager Roberto Mancini.

Even with all of this going around off the pitch, he was the most consistent striker for Manchester City with 17 goals in the 39 appearances last season, doing better than fellow strikers Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko.

Tevez leaves England having scored 114 goals in 267 games for West Ham, Manchester United and Manchester City and having collected multiple honours, including three Premier League titles, one FA Cup, one Champions League, two Community shields and one FIFA Club World Cup

Real Madrid boss Ancelotti wants want-away Rooney

Carlo Ancelotti who is set to be confirmed as the new Real Madrid manager will be a giving a transfer wish list which will include Wayne Rooney, Gareth Bale, Luis Suarez, Edinson Cavani according to the Daily Mail. Madrid’s new Italian manager Ancelotti will want to make a move for the want-away Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney if he doesn’t patch things up with his current club.

According to Sportsmail Rooney’s preference would be to join Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea rather than move abroad but if he does move abroad his clear cut choice would be the Los Blancos. Unlike Arsenal, both Chelsea and Real Madrid have more than enough funds to pay him £30 million and match his £250,000 weekly wage.

Rooney has two years left on his contract and he will talk to his new boss David Moyes after both of them return from their holidays but it doesn’t seem that the 27 year old England international will be able to cover up his differences with the new Manchester United boss after Moyes had sued him in 2007 and if he does clear everything he would want to be played up ahead with Van persie rather than being played behind him.

Madrid would want the super striker just in case their star striker Higuain leaves which is highly probable while Chelsea have been after him for quite some while but were disappointed every time. Thus the next few days could be very important in deciding where the England international’s future lays.

Why I am looking forward to the  Barclays Premier League opening day matches
Arsenal v Aston Villa- Arsenal who will be trying to win their first silverware in 9 years will start things off against relegation probable Aston Villa

Chelsea v Hull City- Jose Mourinho‘s first match in his second term for Chelsea will be against new boys Hull City

Crystal Palace v Tottenham Hotspur- the Championship play- off winners Crystal Palace will host Tottenham in an all London derby

Liverpool v Stoke- Liverpool will try to finish in the top 4 so that they qualify and for that they will need to beat Stoke to get off to a good start

Manchester City v Newcastle United- Last year’s strugglers Newcastle United will face off against probable champions Manchester City in their opening match

Norwich City v Everton- Everton who had an amazing last season but this time they have a new manager will travel to Norwich for their first match.

Sunderland v Fulham- Sunderland who just beat relegation last season will host Fulham who had an ordinary season.

Swansea City v Manchester United- David Moyes’ first task as a Manchester United manager will be against Swansea who had a good last season.

West Bromwich Albion v Southampton- Last year’s surprise package West Brom will take on Southampton who had a dreadful last season.

West Ham United v Cardiff City- Championship Champions Cardiff will face off against West Ham who had a last season which was not good or bad

 

Mexico vs Italy (1-2): Balotelli fires Italy home

The second Group A match in the Confederations Cup was a thriller. It had everything you want in a football match - goals, yellow cards, amazing free kicks, penalties, denied penalties and last minute drama. Italy scored late to beat the CONCACAF champions Mexico 2-1 courtesy their controversial young striker ‘Super Mario’ Balotelli.

It was Andrea Pirlo’s 100th appearance for the Azzurri and he celebrated it in style by scoring an absolute cracker of a free kick just inside the first half hour.

Just 7 minutes after Pirlo’s goal, Manchester United wonder boy Javier Hernandez fired home for Mexico from a penalty after Andrea Barzagli brought down Dos Santos inside the box.

Twelve minutes from time Mario Balotelli somehow managed to squeeze the ball past the Mexican goalkeeper Corona to rescue Italy from an embarrassing draw.

In the first half hour Italy seemed to keep better possession of the ball and made more chances. After Balotelli’s long range effort and Giaccherini’s low shot into the hands of the Corona, it seemed that Italy was dominating the match. Andreas Guardardo was given chance to change this mentality when he got an amazing through ball and he took a shot which went like a bullet but it only ended up rattling the crossbar

Pirlo went down inside the penalty box when the clock reached 25 minutes and was not given a sure penalty though he got his revenge when he scored from 25 yards.

Ten players of the Italian squad were either from Juventus or AC Milan, the lone exception was Daniele de Rossi who was from Roma. While Mexican midfielder Torrado was playing his 141st match.

The second half was not as action packed as the first but it did have its moments. Right after the restart Pirlo got another free kick which was deflected to Montolivo who failed to score from close range.

Italy was denied yet another penalty when Balotelli was pulled down by Hector Monero though he also got his revenge when he scored later on in the match.

Seeing that Italy was dominating Mexico chose complete defense rather than any offence so that they could keep more possession of the ball.

Other than one or two attacks Mexico didn’t cause that much trouble in the starting of the second half though in one of the attacks they did get a free kick which was headed narrowly wide from Gerado Flores. After Balotelli’s goal Mexico badly needed a goal from somewhere and they tried hard but Mexico failed to trouble Buffon. Italy secured an important win which enhances their chance of qualifying for the knockout stages.

Italy – Buffon, Chiellini, De Sciglio, Barzagli, Abate, Marchisio (68 Cerci), De Rossi, Montolivo, Pirlo, Giaccherini (88 Aquilani), Balotelli (86 Gilardino)

Substitutes- Cerci, Aquilani, Gilardino, Sirigu, El Shaarawy

Mexico- Corona, Javier Rodriguez, Aquino (53 Mier), Moreno, Flores, Salcido, Torrado, Zavala (86 Jimenez), Gurdado, dos Santos, Hernandez

Substitutes- Mier, Jimenez, Reyes, Guilliermo Ochoa, Meza
Final Score: Italy 2:1 Mexico ( 27` Pirlo, 34` (PG) Hernandez, 78` Balotelli)

Promising Brazil thrash Japan 3-0 to kickstart Confederations Cup with a bang

Brazil were really in amazing form as they easily defeated Japan 3-0 in the opening match of the Confederations Cup, a two week tournament featuring the leading sides of each of FIFA’s different continental federations. Brazil started of proceedings with an absolute belter from Neymar, the new Barcelona acquisition, inside the first 5 minutes. Japan hung on in the first half and were perhaps fortunate to go into the break just a goal down, but a goal early in the second half from Paulinho calmed nerves around Estadio Nacional de Brasilia before a late goal from Jo sealed the match for the Selecao.

Brazil was rock-solid at the back and just mouth watering in attack. They have shown to the whole world that they are going to serious contenders for the next year’s World Cup and for their third successive Confederations Cup.

Neymar’s performance was enough to quieten his critics for a while as he broke his 9 match scoring duck with a gorgeous strike from the edge of the box in the third minute after being perfectly teed up by Fred. Everyone was looking to see how Brazil’s big stars would perform and they were not disappointed as players like Marcelo, Neymar, Oscar, Hulk and Dani Alves did have good games, a welcome relief for Scolari.

Japan meanwhile were weak at the back and in forward Shinji Okazaki had an out of form striker who had scored just the 1 goal for Stuttgart last season. Keisuke Honda was at his industrious best, and was the only Japanese player who really threatened the Selecao.

Both Dani Alves and Hulk were combining well down the right and were causing a headache to the Samurai Blue throughout the match. They created a lot of chances but the killer ball into the box was largely lacking. Brazil did get it right early in the second half when Dani Alves delivered a low cross for Paulinho, who scored courtesy a low volley.

Okazaki should have pulled one back for Japan in the 50th minute but his effort drifted wide.

In the closing stages of the match an excellent counter attack from Brazil led by Oscar saw the Selecao add a third to the scoreline as the young Chelsea star’s amazing through ball for Jo was well finished by the former Manchester City man past Japanese keeper Ejji Kawashima.

Teams

Brazil- Julio Cesar, Dani Alves, Thiago Silva, David Luiz, Marcelo, Oscar, Luis Gustavo Dias, Paulinho, Fred (81 Jo), Neymar (74 Lucas), Hulk (75 Hernanes).

Substitutions- Lucas, Hernanaes, Jo, Jefferson, Dante

Japan- Ejji Kawashima, Yuto Nagatoma, Atsuto Uchida, Yasuyuki Konno, Maya Yoshida, Keisuke Honda, Yasuhito Endo, Hiroshi Kiyotake, Shinji Okazaki, Makoto Hasebe, Shinji Kagawa

Substitutions- Hajime Hosogai, Takashi Inui, Ryoichi Maeda, Kengo Nakamura, Shusaku Nishikawa

Final Score: Brazil 3-0 Japan (3` Neymar, 48` Paulinho, 90+3` Jo)

Etienne Capoue admits he wants to leave Toulouse this summer

Etienne Capoue admits he wants to leave Toulouse this summer
Etienne Capoue has made it clear that he wants to leave the French club Toulouse in an interview with the L’Equipe. The 24 year old has played 175 times for the Ligue 1 and has been linked with a lot of clubs all around Europe like Paris St Germain, AC Milan, Tottenham, Arsenal and Harry Redknapp the Queens Park Rangers manager had recently confessed that he had tried to buy the holding midfielder in a last minute dealing but had been unsuccessful.

Toulouse manager Alain Casanova is still hopeful that Etienne will stay in at the Municipal stadium. Capoue responded to this by saying that he was happy that Casanova wanted him to stay but he thought that it was time for him to leave the club after 6 amazing seasons with the le Téfécé.

He leaving the French club is good news for both Arsenal and Tottenham as both of them do need a very physical holding midfielder who also has good aerial ability thus he is the perfect man for both the clubs. Arsenal will need his services just in case Wanyama doesn’t join the Gunners from Celtic this summer and Tottenham will need someone who can support the team well as their holding midfielder Sandro has not been doing his job for a long while now.

Wanyama shows interest to join Arsenal

Wanyama’s mentor confirms Arsenal interest in his ward

Victor Wanyama’s footballing mentor Jean-Marie Abeels and also his coach at his youth academy back home in Kenya has confirmed that the Celtic midfielder wants to join Arsenal.

The Belgian coach says that 10 million pound rated Kenyan international has already had contact with Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger. The 21 year old was linked with a number of top European clubs including the likes of Manchester United after excelling in the Champions League for Celtic this season.

Jean-Marie Abeels told the Daily Mail that the Arsenal manager had reportedly contacted Celtic a month ago to discuss the possibility of a move to North London. His youth academy coach though thinks that Wanyama should think about the move to such a big club and that he would prefer if Victor took a step somewhere in the middle so that he can continue to develop by playing regular first team football before making the big step up to a top club.

Wanyama captured the attention of the footballing world by scoring the winning goal against Barcelona at Parkhead. However, the youngster is predominantly a defensive midfielder and would add a much needed layer of steel in front of the Arsenal back four.

With Arsenal known to be a club which relishes developing young talent, Wanyama would no doubt benefit greatly from the move, and it will be interesting to see if Arsenal follow up their interest in the midfielder in the coming weeks.

Ramsey: Wanyama is welcome in Arsenal

Ramsey: Wanyama is welcome in Arsenal
In an interview with The Daily Nation while holidaying in beautiful Kenya, Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey confessed that he would be delighted to welcome Celtic youngster Victor Wanyama to the squad should the Kenyan superstar make a big money move to the North London side this summer. .

Ramsey, who appears to have got another lease of life on his Arsenal career, playing in a deeper role in midfield this season, is still nowhere near the young talent who first landed at the Emirates before having his leg horrifically broken by Stoke City defender Ryan Shawcross. But one can see the confidence return in the Welshman, and it is even more admirable that he would welcome an addition to the squad who could potentially curtail his playing time!

Ramsey said in an interview with the local Kenyan newspaper, “I have watched him (Wanyama) play for Celtic, I watched him score against Barcelona and I think he is a great player. Whether he will join us is for other people to decided.”

Following the departure of Alex Song to Barcelona, Arsenal have not really replaced the powerful Cameroonian with a natural defensive midfielder, with Mikel Arteta deployed in a creative holding role in front of the back four. While that works well for Arsenal going forward, against certain teams it is beneficial to have a player who is better suited for the role, a position Wanyama would fit perfectly into.

The Gunners are very keen on signing the 21 year old as his athleticism and his combative nature in the center of the park is just what Arsenal need. His signing could also help Arsenal use both Ramsey and Arteta to link up play going forward, and leave the defending to the powerful Kenyan. The player’s versatility meanwhile would be a bonus.

Ramsey was quick to add that for a player from Kenya to win the young player of year award in Scotland shows that there is great football potential in the country.

The return of the “special one”

The return of the “special one”

Jose Mourinho has returned to Chelsea for his second term at Stamford Bridge on a four year contract and unlike the other new managers making their way into the Premier League, the Portuguese sensation has immediately got down to work. According to the Daily Mail he could well sign up to 5 new players in the summer transfer window. The targets are reportedly Fiorentina’s striker Stevan Jovetic, Manchester City’s super sub Edin Dzeko, Porto’s young French center half Eliaquim Mangala, Roma’s veteran midfielder Daniele De Rossi and Shakhtar Donetsk’s Brazilian midfielder Fernandinho. The Mail also believes that young Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku, who just returned from a loan spell at West Brom, will not be shipped out again on loan next season.

Mourinho shared in his address on Chelsea TV that he wanted to improve his team not just by buying new players but also improving the players currently in the squad, a strong indication that he wants to improve his image as a manager, one which has been tainted by the enormous funds that have been made available to him to “buy success” wherever he has gone. Mourinho also said that he would like to start from scratch and forget that he was a champion in the Premier League before.

He claimed that he is the complete one rather than the special one as he is back with Blues. Mourinho said that he wanted to change the fact that he has never stayed at one club for more than 4 years in his 13 year career. The former Real Madrid coach has understood that even though there are 4 or 5 players who were there when he was the manager, the squad is filled with youngsters. He confessed that he has arrived in the best moment of his career. Mourinho has brought with him to Stamford Bridge, his trusted assistants.

Michu to Arsenal?

Arsenal plot summer swoop of star Spanish striker

Miguel Perez Cuesta better known as Michu had an exhilarating debut season in the Premier League with Welsh club Swansea City as he banged in an incredible 22 goals and 4 assists. Michu was arguably the buy of the season having joined Swansea from Rayo Vallecano for just 2 million pounds at a time when clubs quote fees in excess of 30-40 million pounds for a half decent striker.

Michu announced himself on the Premier League stage with a bang, scoring a brace on debut, and was crucially one of the more consistent players over the course of the season, barely having a lean spell. Swansea procured Michu on a real steal despite him being the highest scoring midfielder in La Liga the season before, and left many top clubs asking their scouts if they had been caught napping letting such a fantastic prospect slip through their grasp.

The 27 year old, who was converted into a striker by the Welsh club due to the poor goal return of Danny Graham, was his club’s standout performer. Swansea had an incredible season, winning the Capital One Cup to capture their first major trophy, and also finished in 9th place in the Premier League standings.

The Daily Mail reports that Michu is now on top of the shopping list for London giants Arsenal, who are looking to bolster their ranks with some top notch striking talent. The player’s ability to fit in either as the lead striker or in the hole behind one makes him a fantastic prospect for the Gunners, while his aerial ability would be a huge bonus for a side that is known for playing silky one touch football.

Swansea though got the Spaniard to commit to a 4 year deal in January this year, and are under no obligation to sell the player. Arsenal will need to make a blockbuster offer to get them to reconsider their stance, with the Gunners likely to be rather unpopular in the Welsh countryside if they do snatch Michu and club skipper Ashley Williams from the Swans this summer.

NEYMAR TO CAMP NOU

Barcelona has confirmed the signing of the 21 year old Santos super striker. On Monday Neymar will sign his 5 year contract which will keep him in Barcelona until 2018. The striker who has been with the Brazilian club Santos since he was 17 has been on the transfer news for the last two years. The club (Santos) has said that they have tried their utmost best to keep the player in Brazil by turning down a number of deals. In the last two days Santos had confirmed that they had received two offers.

Barcelona like every year is trying to improve their attack. It is clear that they want to stay the best club in the world even with the embarrassing defeats to Bayern in the Champions league and to Real Madrid in the Copa Del Ray. When Neymar joins the squad it will be strengthened for sure and it will take a lot of pressure off Messi. In the recent past Barcelona has not played well when Messi hasn’t played well. It is not sure if Messi will have great synergy with Neymar but there is one thing that is sure, with passes and plays created by Xavi and Iniesta. Neymar’s chances of scoring goals will improve tremendously. One of the negatives that Barca might face is the fact that Neymar coming into the team will reduce the starting appearances of Alexis Sanchez, David Villa, Tello and Pedro.

WAYNE ROONEY AND ARSENAL: TO BE OR NOT TO BE

While it is known to all that Wayne Rooney’s deep-seated allegiance to the legendary English football club Manchester United has waned away for the second time in the last three years, it is unknown whether he will join any other football club in the near future or choose to dismiss the idea and retain his loyalty for his existing club. However, it is rumored that the highly acclaimed football player does not wish to resume his career as a footballer hailing from a club in the United Kingdom, and instead wishes to expand his horizons by exploring football clubs in other nations.

When it comes to the subject of Wayne Rooney joining the ranks of the esteemed football club Arsenal, the chances are grim. A large contributing factor to this almost inevitable conclusion is that Rooney’s weekly wage is more than double of the highest-grossing Arsenal player Lucas Podolski, whose weekly wage is just in excess of £100,000 though Arsenal has more than enough funds to afford the transfer fee for Rooney; a fact that contradicts the above statement. Despite this, chances of Rooney joining Arsenal FC are still slim, as he is rumored to be in contact with two other clubs who are more capable of meeting his financial demands; PSG and Real Madrid.
Rooney’s enigmatic career while at a seemingly long hiatus is surely far from an ending altogether, but we are sure to see Rooney at action for years to come.

IS ANGEL DI MARIA, BECKHAM'S SUCCESSOR AT PSG

Angel Di Maria had an unsettled season with Real Madrid. The 25 year old versatile winger was only able to score 7 goals and give 5 assists in the league while he only managed 8 goals and 10 assists in the whole season. He only had 33 starts in his 48 appearances in the 2012/2013 season. Jose Mourinho, the Real Madrid manager had completely lost his trust of Di Maria after his poor start to season with the Los Blancos (18 appearances, 2 goals and 1 assist). The Argentinian only had three-four good matches in the whole season

Real Madrid is reportedly trying to offload both Di Maria and Gonzalo Higuain to facilitate the transfer of Gareth Bale (£60 million) from Tottenham Hotspur who is considered to be one of the best players in the world. Both Manchester United and PSG have been looking at the versatile winger from Real Madrid for various reasons. While Manchester united has been looking at him as a replacement for Nani if he leaves, PSG the Ligue 1 champions have been looking at him as a replacement for David Beckham. Manchester United and PSG aren’t afraid to spend money on him as they have sufficient funds. PSG are supposedly ready to make a 17 million bid for him. Wherever he goes, his career is going upwards.