Juventus could scrap their interest in signing Angel Di Maria after growing frustrated with the Paris Saint-Germain star, clearing a path for Tottenham Hotspur to land the Argentine.
That’s according to Gazzetta dello Sport, who note the Allianz Stadium side are considering throwing in the towel on their pursuit. Di Maria has annoyed Bianconeri chiefs as he is still yet to respond to their offer ahead of leaving PSG as a free agent once his contract expires.
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Paris Saint-Germain have elected against retaining the forward past his current deal, which ends on June 30. A chance to sign a winger of the 34-year-old’s quality and experience saw him sit at the top of Juventus’ shortlist with Massimiliano Allegri deeming him a top target.
Juventus are on the cusp of scraping interest in Tottenham target Angel Di Maria
But despite Juventus increasing their initial offer to match Di Maria’s requests, the 122-cap maestro has continued to ask for extra time to decide on the free move. Too much time, in fact, as the Bianconeri are now threatening to pull the plug on his projected Serie A switch.
Juventus did not want to wait beyond this week for the playmaker to accept or reject their proposal. The Turin natives initially presented a two-year contract, before reducing it to a one-year deal worth the €7m-a-season (£115k-a/w) that he had demanded during talks.
Yet Di Maria continues to ask for patience, raising concerns at the Allianz Stadium that he is holding out for Barcelona or a return home to Argentina with Rosario Central. He started his career at the Primera Division club, who have just hired Carlos Tevez as their manager.
Tottenham have also shown interest in signing Di Maria in a free transfer once his contract with Paris Saint-Germain expires. Calciomercato.it claimed in April that Spurs were looking into the forward’s situation to provide boss Antonio Conte with another offensive weapon.
Di Maria enjoyed a solid Ligue 1 campaign under Mauricio Pochettino last season, despite not being a first-choice option. The Rosario-born creator offered five goals and nine assists across 26 French top-flight fixtures, of which he only started 19 from a potential 29 games.
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