The Manchester United shirt has proved to be too heavy for many players in the past, no matter how talented.
Recently, Jadon Sancho went from having more goal contributions than Lionel Messi at one point in 2019, to struggling to feature in United’s squad under Erik ten Hag.
Alexis Sanchez was one of the best players in the Premier League at Arsenal but scored only three goals in two years for the Red Devils.
On Rio Ferdinand’s podcast, Phil Jones recently spoke about United’s record-breaking £60m signing in 2014.
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In his one season at the club, Jones revealed how Angel Di Maria struggled to cope with the intensity of Premier league football.
He recalled Di Maria’s woeful performance for United, when they played Burnley a few days after his arrival from Real Madrid.
“I look at Angel Di Maria, I think ‘wow’. I remember his first game away at Burnley, I remember getting into the dressing room, tight as anything, he looked like a little lost soul,” he said.
“He got absolutely battered, absolutely mullered. Every time he got the ball, ‘whack’.”
Phil Jones continued to mention that the pressure of playing for United appeared to be too much for the Argentine.
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“He just never really got United. Maybe the manager didn’t help, he didn’t get along with him.”
“I’ve seen so many players, they don’t perform because the shirt’s so heavy, and they go on to do well in their career,” Jones explained.
Di Maria left United and joined PSG in 2015 for £44m, after a difficult first season and issues with manager Louis van Gaal.
10 years later, there is still bad blood between the winger and Van Gaal, with Di Maria describing him as the “worst” manager he has ever played for.
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