Why Angel Di Maria ended up ‘hating’ Manchester after failed £59.7m United transfer saw World Cup winner flop in fabled No.7 jersey

The primary catalyst for Di Maria’s decline in Manchester was a fractured relationship with then-manager Louis van Gaal. While the move began with high expectations, the winger soon found himself at odds with the Dutchman’s rigid coaching methods.

"Things started really well," Di Maria said In an interview with BBC Sport. "Everything was flowing. Then I started to have issues with Van Gaal and from there everything fell apart."

The tension stemmed from Van Gaal’s habit of constant critical analysis, which Di Maria felt was overwhelmingly one-sided. "Like I said, I started really well. Everything was perfect. But then suddenly we started having lots of meetings about all the things I was doing wrong on the pitch. He never showed me what I was doing well, just the negatives, over and over. Eventually I got fed up," the World Cup winner explained.

Beyond the training ground, Di Maria’s personal life in England was marred by a terrifying attempted burglary at his home in Cheshire while his family was present. This incident, combined with the difficulty of adapting to the local environment, made life unbearable. "Life there was very different. It gets dark really early and then the cold started. Everything kept snowballing. There was also the break-in at my house," Di Maria recalled.

The Argentine noted that while he also faced security issues during his later stint with Paris Saint-Germain, the general quality of life in France made those incidents easier to handle. "I got robbed in Paris too and still stayed for another two or three years, because life there was good. In Manchester, everything just snowballed. I wanted to prioritise my family and that is why I left," he added, highlighting how the external factors compounded his professional unhappiness.

The player's wife, Jorgelina Cardoso, has also shared her scathing assessment of their time in the North West. Speaking about the move, she revealed she was against it from the start: "I didn't like it at all. 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."

By the time March rolled around, Van Gaal had begun dropping the winger from the starting XI following a red card in an FA Cup clash against Arsenal and a succession of minor injuries. When the season ended, Di Maria was determined to force an exit, eventually skipping the club's pre-season tour to secure a move to PSG. "He said I never showed up [for pre-season] but I had already said I wanted to leave and that I wasn't going to report back to the club," Di Maria clarified.

Despite the domestic misery, Di Maria insists he does not regret the move itself. "But when it comes to the Premier League, the atmosphere, life at the club, honestly, I was left with a really good feeling because there were great people inside the club who always treated me well, who always supported me and helped me with everything. For that, I'm grateful," he said.