Di Maria - a delayed solution for Scolari? (+Vid)
ANGEL DI MARIA
By dixon9
January 9 2009
The media are claiming that Luiz Felipe Scolari is to be given the wing option that the Brazilian manager desperately needs with the signing of Angel Di Maria from Benfica. Fleet St scribes also state that due to Kenyon’s drive to balance the books at all costs the transfer won’t take place until the end of the season .
Matt Hughes’s piece in The Times for example, makes various “in the know at the club” type claims – just how much he has been briefed by the club (if at all) is obviously open to conjecture.
Apparently Scolari “is in full agreement with Chelsea’s new policy of signing young players on modest wages with a potentially high resale value” – given that Di Maria is just 20, this pretty much smacks of a player for the future being signed rather than an immediate solution for a wide player anyway (much in the mould of the signing of young Orlando Sá – a deal completed just a few weeks ago).
If this isn’t another youth type signing then presumably Di Maria is some kind of football prodigy. I don’t know anything about the player but opinions include “a good prospect”, “not a regular for Benfica but huge potential”, “one of the best wingers in the world” and “could be Messi in a couple of years”!
Certainly, Di María must have at the very least excellent potential when you consider Benfica paid £5.4 million to Rosario Central of Argentina for his signature in the summer of 2007 – The Times claim his value has shot up to around £15 million after two very good seasons in Portugal so it will be interesting to see just how much we shell out for him.
Apparently, Di María was exceptional during the Under-20 World Cup in 2007 which Argentina won and as a consequence, he is now in the full national squad.
His agent is Jorge Mendes with whom we have dealt a few times before (he is also Mourinho´s agent!) and it is hoped that this will be enough to stave off interest from Real Madrid (although what happens if Inter want him?!).
Kenyon has already stated that we will be very busy in the summer and the media are subsequently claiming that there will be a major overhaul. I would imagine we are talking around 5-6 players (which is admittedly significant) but I don’t think we’ll be seeing a turnover of players in double figures.Presumably we can’t get Di Maria now because Benfica aren’t ready to sell him in the middle of the season or it´s true that Kenyon wants to massage future financial reports to the maximum - if the latter is the case then I would say it’s very petty.
Scolari NEEDS a wide option now. He has already been deprived of Robinho through either bad luck (Man City becoming rich on the last day of the transfer window) or a club coc.k up – it shouldn’t be too much to ask to provide him with some compensation if the opportunity is there.
I don’t know if Di Maria is the answer (he could well be one more component in an admirable plan for the future) but my hope is that the club will do all they can to get a player that Big Phil might have identified during this transfer window – he deserves it.
Di Maria Video Compilation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWX2-J0jcgA&feature=PlayList&p=049C243B62F89964&playnext=1&index=15
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With Scolari gone could any deal be affected though?
"It is born out of hypocrisy and fundamental insecurity. There have been two kids on the block for the past 12 years. Suddenly, there is a third and that one is threatening to be more successful than the others and they don’t like it." P Kenyon.