Louis van Gaal wants Manchester United chiefs to bring Angel di Maria to Old Trafford. The Sunday Mirror says the Old Trafford giants' vice-chairman Ed Woodward boasted, during United's recent tour of the USA, that the fallen champions were prepared to smash through the £85million standard set by Real Madrid for Tottenham's Gareth Bale last year.
Bale and Ronaldo are tied to long-term deals at the Bernabeu, but Di Maria, 26, has been made available by the European champions.
And, after LVG took the unusual step of mentioning the Argentine by name - and put him in the same class as Ronaldo - the pressure is on Woodward to deliver now Paris Saint-Germain have pulled out of a £50m move for the winger.
The new United manager believes the squad that he inherited from David Moyes is unbalanced.
And, when asked about Woodward being prepared to break the world transfer record, he said: "It is a strategy of Manchester United to do that. At this moment, we have five No.9s and four No.10s - and we don't have wingers to give us attacking width.
"Or, I should say, we don't have wingers of the highest level, like Ronaldo or Di Maria or somebody like that. So, I have to play in another way - and you have seen that already. I only buy when I think we need to buy - in the position that is necessary."
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