Al-Khelaifi claims the Argentine wanted to join the French champions.
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Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has claimed that Manchester United’s club record signing Angel di Maria actually wanted to join his club.
The Argentine became the most expensive player in British history upon completion of his £59.7m transfer from Real Madrid, but Al-Khelaifi says the Parc des Princes was actually di Maria’s preferred destination.
“Di Maria wanted to come to Paris but even without FFP [Financial Fair Play], we wouldn’t have signed him,” the PSG chief told Le Parisian.
It would have been an impossible deal for the Ligue 1 champions to conduct in any case, as after spending £40m on Chelsea defender David Luiz the purchase of the South American would have seen them in breach of UEFA’s FFP rule.
PSG were punished last season for being in breach of the ruling having spent huge amounts on new players since the club’s Qatari takeover in 2011.
Di Maria was linked with a move to Paris after his position at Madrid became uncertain following the arrival of Toni Kroos and James Rodriguez from Bayern Munich and AS Monaco respectively.
In the end the Red Devils decided to make the swoop for the Argentina international, who is among £152.3m worth of new signings at Old Trafford this summer.
Along with di Maria, new manager Louis van Gaal has also bought in Ander Herrera, Luke Shaw, Marcos Rojo, Daley Blind and Radamel Falcao.
SEE ALSO: Manchester United XI with Radamel Falcao.
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