Doha: Argentine international Angel di Maria’s proposed move from Manchester United to Paris Saint-Germain has moved closer after the winger passed a medical with the French champions in Doha yesterday.
The 27-year-old had extensive tests at the Aspetar sports hospital after being given permission by the Premier League giants to fly to the Qatari capital for talks with PSG officials.
The two clubs have already agreed a fee of £44.3m ($68.9m) for Di Maria who will end his one-year stay at Old Trafford.
United snapped up Di Maria for a British record £59.7m from Real Madrid last summer, but the winger’s form slumped dramatically after making an encouraging start to life at Old Trafford.
After netting three goals and making four assists in his opening six games for the 20-time English champions, Di Maria spent time on the sidelines with injury and fell out of favour with Red Devils boss Louis van Gaal.
He started just one of the final 10 games of last season with his final United goal coming in a 2-0 FA Cup third round win over Yeovil Town in January.
Di Maria was also unsettled off the field after an attempted burglary on his home in Cheshire in February.
Since that incident, the Argentine has been living in a city-centre apartment in Manchester — owned by former United player Phil Neville — with his family.
The former Benfica player had said he wanted to stay at United but after failing to report for the second part of the club’s pre-season tour of the United States on July 25, his future at Old Trafford appeared to be over.
Di Maria — who has 65 caps for Argentina — scored four goals in 32 appearances for United.
Meanwhile, PSG’s Swedish star Zlatan Ibrahimovic will miss the champions’ season opener at Lille on Friday because of a right knee sprain, the Ligue 1 club announced yesterday.
Tests carried out on the player “revealed a sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee,” the club said in a statement.
Ibrahimovic picked up the injury during PSG’s 2-0 Champions Trophy win over Lyon in Montreal last Saturday. AFP
