Ángel Di María is one of the proper names that FC Barcelona has in the chamber to occupy the right wing in the event that the Raphinha operation ends up castling due to the high economic pretensions of Leeds. In fact, it is expected that the director of football, Mateu Alemany, will travel to England this week to try to unblock the signing of the Brazilian international, who has the former Blaugrana Deco as his representative. The problem is that Leeds is now demanding an amount close to 60 million for the player, while Barcelona would only be willing to reach 35 million at most.
And in anticipation of how Alemany’s meeting with the Leeds representatives ends, Barcelona has already taken care of its health and has found an alternative. This is Angel Di Maria, as already published in various media and was able to confirm AS. The Argentine international, who would arrive for free after having concluded his contract with PSG, is to the liking of the Blaugrana coaches, who value his versatility, experience and quality. The main problem would be the file, since Barcelona will not sign any player who claims more than ten million clean per year, as we have revealed in this newspaper, and at PSG his salary was close to 14 million.
The Blaugrana club, which has asked Di María who paralyzes his negotiations with Juventus, would offer ‘Fideo’ a one-year contract, with the option of another one. At 34 years old, the striker is more interested in returning to Spain than playing in Italy, although if he finally opts for Barcelona, he will have to make an economic effort to fit into the wage bill.
Thus, Barcelona could guarantee a relief of guarantees to Ousmane Dembélé for the next two years and wait for Raphinha to arrive for free from 2024, when his contract with Leeds ends.
Alemany will travel to England with this ace up his sleeve: either the English accept Barcelona’s conditions or they will wait two years to take the player for free.
Juve wants to close Di Maria this week
Surveyed by Barça, somewhat disoriented in the market, in the last few hours, the Vecchia Signora has reacted and La Gazzetta dello Sport takes to pages 2-3 of this Tuesday the current situation of the negotiation of the Turinese with the Argentine.
Di María, for the time being, maintains the idea of playing one more year in Europe to guarantee reaching the best level for the World Cup in Qatar. However, his wish, always according to La Gazzetta, is to finish the 2022-23 season and return to Argentina to close his career at Rosario Central. Di María claims a salary of 7.5 million. Juventus is willing to reach it, but as long as he signs for two years, since that would allow the player to enjoy the tax exemptions of the Crescita Decree, which require that period of time for players who arrive after two or more years in the Foreign.
Allegri, who dreams of a striker Di María, Vlahovic, Kostic (Eintracht) puts pressure on Juventus because they have already lost Dybala and Bernardeschi and Morata’s continuity is not clear either. For this reason, Juventus, in the event that Di María insists on signing for only one year, could offer him 5.5 million euros plus 1.5 in easily compliant variables. This week a new contact between the parties is planned to try to close an operation that would put an end to the rumors that link him to a Barça that, taking into account the figures that are handled in the operation, will prioritize the renewal of Gavi. Another signing of a free player like Christensen or Kessié could finish exhausting the patience of Iván de la Peña, the player’s representative; and what is worse, from Gavi himself.