I'm probably in the minority of United fans here, but United letting Angel Di Maria go will probably be our biggest mistake this season, and I'm really sad to see his United career end in this manner, after LESS than a year.
There is no denying that United "clicked" after his Arsenal red card with imperious displays against Spurs, Liverpool, Man City and Chelsea (though we lost this), but there is also no denying that Angel was United's highest chance creator, and assist recorder in the total number of games he played. This is inspite of being shifted about like a tectonic plate as LVG sort his best formation. He played as a center forward, right winger, left winger, left wingback, central midfielder, and attacking midfielder. It's no surprise that his form floundered since he never got the chance to build consistency in a position. I thought the left wing occupied by Ashley Young would have been his this season. A mid three of Di Maria, Memphis and Mata, behind Rooney is as good an attack as any in world football offering pace, guile and creativity, and since we have a midfield now, his defensive duties would be limited. However, it seems now that Van Gaal has simply given up on the Angel.
Maybe he didn't really settle in Manchester, but I'm sure a little love from Van Gaal, Giggs and Co. and the presence of Rojo, Aguero, Demichelis, Zabaleta, and Romero would have helped him this season.
There may have been some behind the scenes handbags that we don't know about, but it is sad to lose someone with the X-factor - that little stardust needed to separate 2nd from 1st. Arsenal have it in Alexis, Chelsea with Eden, City with Aguero, RM with CR7, Barca with Lio, Bayern with Robben, and we are about to gift PSG with ours. In summer where players have been vilified for a lack of loyalty, I'm heartbroken that the club I love has seemingly chosen to discard one of her few truly world class stars.
Here's to you ADM7. I wish I could have seen you more. I'll enjoy you in PSG, and if we meet in the UCL, hopefully you'll have one of your (few) bad days then. Cheers!!

You know what, I agree with you. Obviously he flopped last season, although his stats were pretty good. But it's kinda obvious that he'd probably not destroy teams, but be pretty amazing this season. He had this personal issue too, when some manchester sc*ms tried to rob his house, that didn't help at all either.

I don't know, maybe Man Utd are just happy not to risk that his price would go even more down. I've heard many other bpl team fans are pretty happy too that he leaves, 'cause they expect that he'd have a fantastic season too.

He flopped? He didn't flop. He was impressive for his first 5-7 games, but then was switched around constantly from position to position. A lack of solid playing time with his teammates and frequent shifts in position resulted in him not performing to the standard he could have. It's funny how people label ADM and Ozil as flops, when they really suffer most from not being put in their proper positions for extended periods of time. I don't know about you, but 10 assists from 20 starts is a solid return. Some 3 goals to boot, no?

Selling him is a massive mistake for United, he could have been fantastic if LVG started playing him properly. di Maria was great with Argentina in the CA, so it begs the question as to why he was dropped from the United lineup to begin with. It seems that LVG has absurd standards for a player who has just changed leagues, countries, cultures, and languages.

This is a huge disappointment for me, I really liked Di Maria whenever he played last season, and although his benching was justified with Young playing the way he was, the situation could've been handled better.

In the end, from the reports I've been seeing, United is selling Di Maria not because they want to, but because he doesn't want to stay. Now I'm hearing that he always wanted to be at PSG and not United, which I'm not sure about, but he certainly was unsettled for a long time here.

Although, part of me says an ego that can't stand being justifiably benched shouldn't stay, I am sad to see him go. I feel that he could've been really big for us this year.

Let's hope Januzaj and the other youngsters step-up. Young and Depay better play lights out.

@Dynastian got it 100% right. But we all know Di Maria was everything but not consistent, maybe that's what LVG wanted. On the other side PSG will probably be dangerous as hell forward, Ligue 1 will suit him more than EPL.

Well this is pleasant news . United are making a huge mistake .

I wouldn't say he flopped. Like I mentioned, its hard to be consistent if you have no fixed position. And United were piss in alot of games last season.
Funny thing is, Van Gaal seems to agree that he needs some stardust in the team. It's so simple...Keep ADM!!

Well... he floped like only he could and wasnt even close to justify what was payed for him. I was hopping he stayed so that he could prove he was a world class player.

Ligue 1 is an easier league than EPL, no doubt. But a player with the class and quality of di Maria deserves to play in the EPL. I would rather see both him and Ozil at Chelsea, where Mourinho would actually be able to use them properly. If it's the 80 million price tag that United supporters and LVG wanted to be justified, then that was never happening in the first place. He's not Ronaldo or Zidane.

Matter of fact, look at James Rodriguez, who cost the same amount. Madrid supporters are not expecting James to live up to his price tag. We know that the price tag is absurd and James will most likely never be able to justify it. We maintained our opinion on his price tag even when he didn't perform particularly well for the first 5-8 games of the season. But then he exploded into character as he played more and more frequently with those around him, including his midfield trio (Modric and Kroos), BBC, and our wingbacks. This is what di Maria needs: to play frequently with the likes of Rooney, Mata, Depay, etc. in his proper position (central midfield). Then he can prove he's a world-class player with United, even if he never lives up to the price tag.

I concede that ADM is inconsistent as f*ck. I warned all United fans in this forum about his infamous consistency levels before the transfer, and everyone told me that I was hating on a player simply because he didn't want to stay at Madrid. Well..... now you know what I was talking about. Mourinho reportedly told ADM in 2012 that he "played better when [he was] paid less" (after ADM got a contract extension but went completely off-form).

He didn't flop, he wasn't at his best but we failed to get the best out of him. Our whole team played like crap... it's not purely his fault. I do agree he should have done better considering his price tag. But again, we should have accomodate him to get the best.

This is sad, a big mistake... this season is going to look good if he's in, we are in CL, we need the kind of player like him...

By flopping I obviously meant he wasn't at his best, guess flopping is too harsh word. Anyways I don't get this I wish Özil would play in Chelsea thing, utter bs, though it's just your opinion. It's other fans like Chelsea fans who call him TOTAL FLOP. Özil's been just as good as I expected and judging by the preseason, he'll be even better.

The media are lebeling Luis as a flop and I don't know why.. He did great with us this year, it's just that he will go back to Atletico Madrid it doesn't mean he flopped. Same with Di Maria, the difference is the price tag.

Ozil has yet to reach the form he had in Real Madrid . Di Maria failed to reach his form he he had in Real Madrid . Therefore , flopped according to their previous standards .

Mann , If Only Chelsea had Ozil and Di Maria ... We would have finished season unbeaten with 20 points lead , and possibly winning CL too .

Angel di Maria£59.7m from Real Madrid in August 2014 (expected to be sold for £45m).

Transfer cost: £14.7m.

Starts: 24.

Cost per start: £612,500.

@alex

That sounds ridiculous to me too . He brought exactly the performances we expected from him . It is just Azpi too good to become second . Luis did fantastic job , played plenty of matches , won two trophies and went back as if he was on a nice cruise vacation while Atletico was having no silverware season .

@dynastian

Interesting , I agree that price tag should not force player to live up to his price tag , because there are many factors and circumstances that force price tag to fluctuate . However, you don't apply same thoughts when it comes to Raheem Sterling ...

Surely that's harsh.

Whoah !!! that is very harsh words to say about League 1 ... Di Maria sounds about right but Van Gaal probably had a lot to do with departure . Van Gaals strict man management skills sometimes don't suit everyone . Lets remember those players who rioted against Van Gaal .

For example Bayern players , one of them Frank Riberry : "I haven't had fun on the pitch once under van Gaal. "

LVG isn't known for being a man-manager. Ribery flourished after Van Gaal left. His best years were certainly under Heynckes. The whole team got much better after Van Gaal left, although it took some time for them to be that well.

Not saying United are better off without LVG, but they could be even better than they are right now if LVG had more respect and consideration for his players.

In the future, I totally agree, United will be better off without Van Gaal, and he knows that. But the discipline he is instilling in the team right now is exactly what they need, and exactly what they didn't have under Moyes, who gave the players way to much space.

Most reasonable United fans are banking on LVG having a solid campaign this season, with (hopefully) a title the following one, and then Giggs takes over for the LONG haul.

I don't know why some fans are demanding a title this year, LVG said himself it would take three years.

Are you sure Giggs will be a good long-term manager? It's nigh on impossible to find a second Sir Alex.

I have no idea, but that's the hope. He'll have been an understudy to LVG for three years at that point, not to mention all the time he spent under Fergie.

United is not a team that has success under a short-term manager. Throughout the history we've only really done well when we've had someone for a long period of time. I don't want or expect Giggs to be a second Sir Alex. But I'd settle for someone who can keep us fighting for titles and be a constant presence in the later rounds of the UCL.