Angel Di Maria: Is the Argentine the right target for Barcelona?

There has been recent reports that Paris Saint-Germain forward Angel Di Maria is seeking a move to Barcelona in the January transfer window, and is hoping to receive a call from the Camp Nou in the near future.

It is understandable that due to the 2018 World Cup in Russia getting nearer, the Argentinian is seeking a move away from Parc de Princes in order to ensure his place on the Argentina team plane.

The Parisians are hoping to receive a fee around £66m, which initially swayed Barca away when they showed interest in Di Maria during the summer following Neymar’s move to Paris.

Since Neymar and Kylian Mbappe’s arrivals and further competition from clinical Uruguay forward Edinson Cavani, along with Di Maria’s injury problems, the 29-year-old has fallen down the pecking order at PSG. The predicament for the Argentina international is that his place may not be guaranteed at Barca either, if his move was to go through.

The creative Argentinian may be forced to move back into a midfield three in order to get playing time, because once Ousmane Dembele is back from injury, Barca boss Ernesto Valverde will be likely to opt for a front three of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Dembele.

Di Maria’s preferred position is obviously in an advanced role, and he may struggle to regularly play there at the Camp Nou with further options such as Paco Alcácer and Gerard Deulofeu also being available to Valverde up - front.

At his best, Di Maria would be a perfect fit for Barca, regardless of the fact that he used to play for bitter rivals Real Madrid.

The Argentina forward is extremely creative in the final third and possesses trickery, pace and overall ability from both flanks and the central areas which would cause problems for any defence in the world.

However, the issue is that Di Maria’s confidence may be low in the short-term due to his lack of game-time with the Parisians, which as a result, may affect his form in the short-term too.

It is hard to predict the future with regards to how a move to Barca for Di Maria would materialise, and if the Catalans make an approach to PSG, the Argentinian should probably make the move as regular game-time with the Parisians seems unlikely.

With doubts lingering over when Dembele will return fully fit, and Di Maria’s undoubted quality when at his best, the creative forward can definitely shine for Barca. A move would definitely be a risk for Di Maria in his quest to ensure he represents his country in the World Cup, however maybe such a risk would be worth taking.

 

Written by Sina Latif

Follow Sina on Twitter @_sina93

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