United to seal record Di Maria deal

MANCHESTER United were expected to complete the British–record signing of Angel di Maria today.

The Argentina winger was undergoing a medical this morning after a £59.7million transfer from Real Madrid.

Di Maria was absent from the Real squad which beat Cordoba 2–0 at the Bernabeu last night.

Should he sign, the 26 year old cannot be involved in United’s Capital One Cup tie at MK Dons tonight, but he could make his debut in Saturday’s Barclays Premier League match at Burnley.

United appear in desperate need of a lift after a loss and a draw from their opening league games.

Di Maria had been at the Bernabeu since 2010 after moving from Benfica.

United boss Louis van Gaal would neither confirm nor deny a move after his side's 1–1 draw at Sunderland on Sunday.

Di Maria would add to a summer of big spending which has already seen United shell out around £75m on defenders Luke Shaw and Marcos Rojo and midfielder Ander Herrera.

And improvements were needed after a dismal 2013–14 campaign saw them fail to even qualify for Europe, while the Sunderland result followed a 2–1 defeat to Swansea.

Striker Robin van Persie insists there is confidence in the camp that things will come good.

Van Persie said: “We have great players, and it’s just a matter of time before the points will start coming in.”