Topics: Manchester United, Angel Di Maria, Paris Saint-Germain, Transfers
Angel Di Maria's wife has opened up on their nightmare year in Manchester, featuring "disgusting" food, women that "look like porcelain" and "weird" people in the city.
The Argentine forward signed for Manchester United from Real Madrid in the summer of 2014 for a then-British record £59.7 million.
He penned a five-year deal at Old Trafford and was handed the number 7 shirt, previously worn by the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, George Best, Eric Cantona and David Beckham.
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Expectations were naturally high. He arrived on the back of an impressive display at the World Cup with Argentina; as well as a Man of the Match performance in the Champions League final win against Atletico Madrid.
But it never worked out in Manchester, despite a promising start. In fact, he was sold 11 months later as Louis van Gaal and United cut their losses with a £44 million sale to PSG.
So what went wrong?
Shortly after joining Paris Saint-German in the summer of 2015, Di Maria admitted he and his family struggled to adapt to life in Manchester, while his relationship with Louis van Gaal also played a factor.
"Honestly, we were not happy," Di Maria told Le Parisien. "At the beginning, we were a little. But then things became complicated.
"Life in England was a bit difficult. It is not easy for a South American. Some people get on fine, and for others it is harder to adapt.
"I didn't have a great relationship with the coach, so I think the decision to join Paris was the best solution."
Di Maria's wife, Jorgelina Cardoso, has since expanded on the above comments in an interview with Argentinian TV show LAM via The Daily Mail – and she hasn't held back.
She began: "Angel came to me one day and said: 'Look at this proposal from Manchester United'. I didn't want to go, I told him to go alone. 'Let's go both of us', he replied. It was a lot of money, more than the Spaniards had offered.
"So, we went. If you work in a company and someone offers you double the salary, you go running.
"We were friends with Gianinna Maradona, Sergio Aguero's wife, and we travelled to Manchester on vacation for a year. It was always horrible! We came home and I said: 'If you're ever transferred, make sure it's anywhere in the world but England.'"
Cardoso added: "'I didn't like it at all... I can tell you. People are all weird. You walk around and you don't know if they're going to kill you. The food is disgusting. The women look like porcelain. Angel and I were in Madrid, at the best team in the world, perfect food, perfect weather, everything was perfect. And then came United's proposal...
"I told him 'no way, no way', but he kept saying we will be a little more financially secure and we have to go.
"We fought about it. We try to be closer when things go wrong. I don't blame him for going there. It was horrible, so horrible. I just told him, 'Darling, I want to kill myself, it's nighttime at two o'clock.'"
