Real Madrid Place Argentine Forward on Sale - Report

Real Madrid have reportedly offered winger Angel di Maria to Europe's top clubs, including long-time admirers Manchester United. The Mirror reports the player has also been offered to French club Paris St Germain.

The Argentine international joined the Spanish champions in 2010 and had a superb season at the Santiago Bernabeu last year, with five goals and 15 assists in 23 La Liga games. Overall, the 25-year-old has 24 goals and 38 assists from 122 competitive appearances.

The winger signed a new long-term contract last summer, which was supposed to keep him in the Spanish capital till 2018. The terms included a £860,000 increase in salary, taking his contract to a little over £2.58m per year.

At the time, di Maria said: "I am very happy because I know that the club extended the contract for the work I am doing. I feel very supported and loved by the club and the fans. Personally, I have greatly improved, thanks to Mourinho... I manage to win the affections of the fans. I am delighted with..."

However, di Maria has had a relatively unimpressive season so far; he has made 16 league starts but has only four goals and three assists to show for his efforts. Meanwhile, rumours over a deteriorating relationship with Mourinho have not helped matters. Marca reported, earlier in January, that the ex-Chelsea boss criticised the Argentine's performance after the league draw at Osasuna.

Mourinho's words, reportedly, were: "You aren't playing at all. You played better when you were earning less money. Since you've signed a new deal, you've hardly played."

United Interested?

Meanwhile, the Metro's report in January hinted that the Premier League leaders would look to move for di Maria as replacement for Portuguese international Nani. The latter was strongly linked with an exit from Old Trafford after a series of indifferent performances.

There was an admission of interest in the former Sporting Lisbon player from Russian champions Zenit St Petersburg but disagreements over salary cancelled that deal. Arsenal were also believed to be interested in the 26-year-old forward.

Madrid were believed to value di Maria at approximately £20m in January and given he has a long-term contract with the club it is unlikely the valuation will drop significantly.

What could work in United's favour is Madrid's reported interest in Gareth Bale. The 23-year-old Welshman is a strongly rumoured summer target for Madrid president Florentino Perez and it is believed negotiations between Madrid and Tottenham have already begun. Spurs' chairman, Daniel Levy, earlier slapped a £60m price tag on his star and that could persuade Madrid to accept a slightly lower fee for di Maria, as Perez looks to shift a number of players to accommodate Bale at the Bernabeu.