Could Di Maria realistically replace Neymar at Barcelona?
The Argentine is rumoured to be considering a move to the La Liga giants after the loss of their star Brazilian. However, can the forward live up to the former and perform on the centre stage?
The Catalan giants have been trying to sign Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele, but it seems these deals are stalling, meaning that Barcelona have reportedly decided to pursue Di Maria instead.
The forward has had a successful season at PSG last year, making 29 appearances for the club in the domestic league and even managing to score six goals in the process. The player would be seen as a like-for-like replacement for Neymar who went in the other direction and would be expected to fit in alongside Messi and Suarez.
However, although Barcelona want the deal to happen, it will be interesting to see how the French club deal with the approach considering the reluctance of the Spanish club to sell Neymar. The fee is reported to be around £45m, which isn’t that much all things considered, but more than they paid for their recent arrival Paulinho.
One thing Barcelona will be lacking is goals from their former Brazilian and which the Argentine might not be able to make up for. Last season in the domestic league, Di Maria managed to score 0.26 goals per 90 minutes whereas Neymar nearly scored double with 0.44 goals per 90 minutes.
Neymar did manage more assists last season, but when you have Messi and Suarez alongside you, it’s a lot more likely that you’re going to rack them up. However, in terms of key passes, Di Maria did manage more key passes per 90 minutes than the 25-year-old, 3.09 compared to 2.68 which although might not seem like much, could be the difference between 3 points and 1.
The deal if it goes ahead should be finalised this week, as they only have eight days before the transfer window shuts.