World Sports: Barcelona has wanted to sign Di Maria twice, but failed to join due to transfer fees and age issues

According to World Sports, Di Maria bid farewell to Benfica at the age of 37 and will end his career with Rosario Central, which is where his career began. Di Maria's career is full of glory, having played for Benfica, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus and returning to Benfica again.

Barcelona tried to sign Di Maria twice, the first time in the 2017/18 winter transfer window, when Paris Saint-Germain took Neymar from Barcelona for a record 222 million euros. In order to balance financial fair competition, Paris needs to sell players, and Barcelona is considering introducing Di Maria.

However, the two sides failed to reach an agreement because Paris demanded a transfer fee of 80 million euros, while Di Maria was 29 years old at the time and was considered to be overpriced. But subsequent data show that Di Maria's performance proved his worth.

Di Maria continued to play for Paris Saint-Germain until 2022, before spending a season at Juventus and returning to Benfica for the last two seasons. In these eight years, he has made 338 appearances, scored 108 goals, assisted 111 times, and played 23,850 minutes. He averages 42 appearances per season, scored 13.5 goals, assists 13.8 times, and played 2981 minutes.

In four seasons, he contributed more than 30 goals to the team: 2018/19 season (19 goals, 17 assists), 2019/20 season (13 goals, 23 assists), 2023/24 season (17 goals, 15 assists), 2024/25 season (19 goals, 10 assists).

In addition to the failed attempt in the 2017/18 season, in the summer of 2022, after Di Maria's contract with Paris Saint-Germain expired, news of joining Barcelona again. He was 34 years old at the time, and Juventus finally signed him. A few months later, he scored his first record for Argentina in the World Cup final in Qatar and helped the team win the championship. In 2023, he returned to Lisbon to join Benfica, where he played until he left for Real Madrid in 2010 and won the Champions League in 2014. Di Maria has won 36 titles in her career, including six national team champions: the Copa America in 2021 and 2024, the European and American Super Cup in 2022 and the 2022 World Cup, as well as the 2007 U20 World Cup and the 2008 Beijing Olympics gold medal.