Manchester United star Angel Di Maria 'Argentina's player of the year' ahead of Lionel Messi

Manchester United midfielder Angel Di Maria has been named Argentina's player of the year ahead of the likes of Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero.

The Premier League's record signing was awarded the Olimpia de Plata after excelling during 2014 for both club and country.

The 26-year-old ended Messi's eight-year dominance of the award.

Despite being tipped to leave Real Madrid last summer, manager Carlo Ancelotti pushed for the club to retain Di Maria's services following the arrival of Gareth Bale at the Bernabeu paving the way for Mesut Ozil's move to Arsenal.

Di Maria played an integral role in Real Madrid's title charge, where they were eventually beaten to the crown by neighbours Atletico Madrid. In the Champions League, the former Benfica star was at his scintillating best and was central to the club's semi-final victories over Bayern Munich, where Real carved the reigning champions open.

In the final against Atletico, Di Maria was named Uefa's man of the match as Real celebrated La Decima with a 4-1 victory.

While Messi was named Fifa's player of the tournament at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Di Maria scored a last-minute goal against Switzerland to seal his side's place in the semi-finals of the competition but injury crucially ruled him out of the final against Germany.

Di Maria then sealed a British record £59.7m move to Old Trafford where he enjoyed an explosive start to life in English football, scoring three and assisting three in his first five games.

United are currently on a six-game winning streak that has lifted them into third place in the league, although Di Maria has not featured since the third game in that run after suffering a hamstring problem against Hull City on 29 November.