10 Most Expensive Man Utd Transfer Flops In History

8. Angel Di Maria (£60 Million)

Man Utd Lukaku
Barrington Coombs/EMPICS Sport

The signing of Angel Di Maria from Real Madrid in 2014 was a strange one for Manchester United fans.

This silky Argentina attacker was clearly a fantastic player, yet manager Louis Van Gaal seemed to lose faith in the former Benfica star almost as soon as he joined United for a fee just shy of £60 million.

Crazy old Van Gaal had complained about how the Red Devils didn't have anybody who was capable of running with the ball and dribbling past players high up the pitch. Having been performing wonders at those very things at Real Madrid, Di Maria seemed like the perfect fit for Van Gaal.

What was the most puzzling about Angel Di Maria's time at United is the bonkers decision of LVG to instruct the flying winger to not run with the ball, to not dribble past players, and to not even make forward runs.

It was crazy, it was a total waste of a word class player, and Van Gaal's treatment of Di Maria ultimately led to United making a £16 million loss on the player after just one solitary, miserable season at Old Trafford.

Despite making an impressive start to his United career, Angel Di Maria would spend large amounts of time on the bench or not even in the match day squad as he started just 20 league games for the Red Devils before being sold for £44 million to Paris St-Germain - a club for who he's still thriving to this day.

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