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| Laurent Blanc (bottom left) convinced Angel Di Maria to join PSG |
ANGEL DI MARIA was contacted by Paris Saint-Germain just days before he went AWOL on Manchester United's pre-season tour.
United had expected Argentine Di Maria to join up with the squad midway through their summer tour of the USA.
But the winger refused to turn up and instead forced through a switch to PSG before the start of the season.
United sold Di Maria for £44million - a loss of £15.7m on the club record fee they paid Real Madrid for the 27-year-old back in 2014.
And Di Maria revealed in an interview with beIN Sports that Blanc phoned him during PSG's own tour of the States and convinced him to quit United.
"The first time we spoke, it was before I signed for PSG," Di Maria said. "This made me very happy.
"It happened the same way when (Jose) Mourinho made me come to Real Madrid. They called me before I spoke with them.
"Blanc called me when he was in the United States and I was still on holiday.
"He said he was very happy to recruit me, that he had wanted me for several seasons.
"Obviously, this gave me an added incentive to sign for PSG."
United and PSG even met during the off-season in Chicago, with the Ligue 1 champions winning 2-0.
United fined Di Maria £360,000 for his absence during the trip and once the squad had returned to Manchester officials set about offloading their flop.
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