The president of the Ligue 1 champions says France was the midfielder’s first choice.
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Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has claimed that his club were Angel di Maria’s first choice before he ended up moving to Manchester United instead.
Al-Khelaifi says that the Argentine wanted to move to the Parc des Princes, but PSG were unwilling to meet Real Madrid’s asking price and no deal for the 26-year-old was struck.
In the end the Red Devils paid a British record £59.7m for di Maria, but it could have all been so different had the Ligue 1 champions decided to make a move.
“Di Maria wanted to come to Paris but even without FFP [Financial Fair Play], we wouldn’t have signed him,” Al-Khelaifi told French publication Le Parisian.
The Argentina international made his debut for the Red Devils during Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Burnley in the Premier League and is among a huge influx of new faces at Old Trafford this summer.
Including di Maria the club sanctioned £152.6m of spending on new talent, with Ander Herrera, Luke Shaw, Marcos Rojo, Daley Blind and Radamel Falcao also joining United.
It was understood that PSG were keeping tabs on the South American after his place at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu became uncertain following the signings of Toni Kroos and James Rodriguez.
However, after sanctioning £40m for David Luiz the French champions could not then buy di Maria without breaching UEFA’s FFP rule, although according to Al-Khelaifi the deal was never that close anyway.
Image gallery: Falcao WAG