Manchester United: Louis van Gaal accepts Angel Di Maria mistake as PSG move nears

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has reportedly owned up to the fact that signing Angel Di Maria in a British-record deal last summer from Real Madrid was a mistake, according to a report in the Mirror.

Di Maria is now on the verge of completing his move to Paris Saint-Germain, with the clubs having reportedly agreed a €63m (£44.4m, $69.3m) deal, according to French publication L'equipe, while RMC Sport has revealed that the winger will arrive in Paris on Monday or Tuesday for his medical.

Laurent Blanc has openly admitted to courting the Argentine winger, with the manager stating that negotiations were nearing conclusion between the two clubs over his transfer.

The Argentine international had a difficult debut season in the Premier League as he failed to settle down and adapt to the intensity of the English game. He scored just three goals all campaign, as United finished in fourth place, and was eventually dropped from the starting XI by the manager.

Di Maria, who was supposed to join the second leg of United's pre-season tour of the United States, but failed to show up when expected leaving the manager furious and at a loss of words to explain his player's absence.

The report claims that the manager has now finally realised that signing the Argentine "was a mistake", and that he is ready to let him go, but according to the Mirror, he will make the player sweat for his move owing to the disrespect shown towards the club when he failed to join them for the pre-season tour.

"I think the manager realised he'd made a mistake with Di Maria and it wasn't ­going to work," a United source said, as quoted by the Mirror.

"Of course, Di Maria had a four-year contract and the club could have made him stay. But the manager felt that would be pointless if he didn't have the confidence Di Maria would produce what he wanted," the source added.

The 20-times English champions have identified Barcelona forward Pedro Rodriguez as the ideal replacement for the Argentine, and according to his former club's president, the Spanish international has already told friends and family that he is moving to the Premier League.