Angel Di Maria: United's big money buy backed to be a shrewd addition

Ashley Young and Michael Carrick are certain Manchester United did not make an expensive mistake in signing Angel Di Maria.

Di Maria joined United in August for £59.7m from Real Madrid, smashing the club's transfer record, and there were early signs it would prove to be money well spent.

But the Argentina international has struggled to live up to his fast start, with a hamstring injury at the end of 2014 not helping, but Young is convinced United made a clever move in bringing him to Old Trafford.

"Angel was a fantastic signing," Young told United Uncovered.

"Real Madrid have other top players in their team, like Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo, but he was the one who stood out for me in that team last season.

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"When you add quality to a squad that already has quality it can only help us.

"We saw in the first couple of days in training just how good a player Angel is and what we can expect from him. He was definitely a great signing for us."

Carrick went a little further in his praise of Di Maria, likening some of his attributes to those club great Ryan Giggs produced over his 14 years as a United player.

He added: "There are players who have got tricks and can drop the shoulder to go past players, but he is so direct in his play.

"It is almost like Giggsy used to be in many ways. When he picks that ball up he can carry it and change direction pretty quickly, so it is very tough to defend against – especially if he is going through the middle of the park.

"There aren't many players who go through the middle. You get wide players who do it, but you don't see many players dribble through the middle of the pitch."