Real Madrid are reportedly ready to ignore head coach Carlo Ancelotti’s plea to keep winger Angel Di Maria as a move to the Premier League edges closer.
As Football Express News reported earlier on today, long-term admirers Manchester United have been joined by bitter rivals Liverpool in the race to secure the Argentina international’s signature.
And according to As, boss Ancelotti sees the player as an integral part of his plans for the 2014-15 campaign – but his views are likely to be overlooked as the Bernabeu hierarchy have decided they will sell him if a big enough offer comes in.
The ex-Chelsea manager has twice managed to prevent Di Maria from heading for the exit door – last summer, when playmaker Mesut Ozil was sacrificed instead, and in January when the wideman fell out with Real supporters following a substitution.
Ancelotti believes he fits perfectly into the tactics he deploys but looks set to lose him on this occasion, which represents a huge boost to United, Liverpool and Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain, although it is thought Di Maria favours a switch to England.
A source close to Old Trafford told FEN Di Maria is one of the club’s leading transfer targets and there is a growing belief that the 26-year-old wants to play under new head coach Louis van Gaal.
Di Maria still has four years remaining on his current contract in Spain.