Angel Di Maria Transfer To Paris Saint-Germain Is 'Off', Says Club Official

Speaking at the public presentation of David Luiz, Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser al-Khelaifi has given his thoughts on the rumored transfer of Real Madrid winger Angel Di Maria to the French side.

The club official was questioned about the cost of the former Chelsea defender. PSG’s president then drew a comparison with the Ligue 1 champion’s proposed move for Di Maria.

“I don’t think David [Luiz] is too expensive. Many other big clubs wanted him,” al-Khelaifi said

“For Di Maria, it’s true we have discussed him with [Florentino Perez]. But he was too expensive. We stopped the discussions.”

Just a few days ago, Bein Sports (which is owned by Nasser al-Khelaifi) reported that Di Maria would be sent on loan for this season with PSG paying the Spanish giants £8 million. After the completion of the 2014-15 season, the Paris-based club would pay Real Madrid an additional £64 million for the Argentina international.

PSG needed to conduct the Di Maria transfer this way in order to side-step UEFA’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) restrictions. The Ligue 1 champions were handed FFP restrictions in May because the club exceeded permissible losses of £37 million over the course of the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons.

It now appears that the transfer of the talented winger from Real Madrid to PSG is off the table.

There is a chance that al-Khelaifi public statements were made as a negotiations ploy to get the Spanish giants to come down from their asking price for the Argentina international.

Whatever the case, should Real Madrid not be able to sell Di Maria, it would put any move for Monaco striker Radamel Falcao in jeopardy.

The ten-time champions of Europe have been rumored to be on the verge of signing the Colombia international in recent weeks. But in order to bring him in, the club would need to sell one of its non-European Union (EU) players first.

As it stands, Real Madrid already has three non-EU players on their roster – newly signed Keylor Navas and James Rodriguez, in addition to Di Maria.

So if the Argentinian winger stays, Falcao will no longer be an option for the Spanish giants.

It’s being reported in Spain that Cristiano Ronaldo was in deep conversation with Di Maria yesterday during Los Blancos training session.

Just last season, when Real Madrid were trying to sell Di Maria, Ronaldo came out publicly and called for the winger to remain at the club.