Death threats ruin Di Maria’s ‘dream’ Rosario move

Former Argentina winger Angel di Maria says death threats forced him to backtrack on plans to return to his boyhood club Rosario Central.

The 36-year-old, a free agent after leaving Benfica at the end of last season, retired from international football earlier this month after winning the Copa America with Argentina.

Di María, who spent two years at Rosario Central between 2005 and 2007, wanted to return to the Argentine club to finish his career.

But a series of threats against him and his family (which he did not report out of fear) have forced him to rethink his situation.

“There was a threat at my sister’s business, a box with a pig’s head and a bullet in the forehead, and a note saying that if I returned to (Rosario) Central, the next head would be that of my daughter Pía,” Di María told a Rosario television station on Tuesday.

“Those months were horrible. All we could do was sit there and cry every night because we couldn’t fulfill that dream of returning.”

Di Maria left Rosario for Benfica in 2007 and spent three years at the Portuguese club before joining Real Madrid.

After four years in the Spanish capital, he moved to Manchester United in a British record £59.7m deal but spent just 12 months in the north-west before being sold to Paris St-Germain.

Di Maria spent seven years with PSG before a season with Juventus and then joining Benfica in 2023.