It’s “hard to believe,” says Argentina international, that supporters would target “the best player in the world.”
Angel Di Maria has insisted that Lionel Messi “doesn’t pay attention” to the boos directed at him by PSG fans in recent weeks.
Messi has endured a testing debut season at PSG, having joined the club on a free transfer following his exit from Barcelona last summer, scoring just nine times in 32 outings across all competitions.
The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner has been subjected to regular jeers since the club’s Champions League round-of-16 defeat to Real Madrid, much to the disbelief of his fellow countryman Di Maria.
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What has Di Maria said about Messi?
The Argentina international can understand why the PSG faithful were left frustrated by another European failure, but does not feel that Messi deserves to be targeted.
Di Maria has revealed the 34-year-old’s reaction to the boos in an interview with Todo Pasa on Argentinian radio station Urbana Play FM, saying: “The best player in the world whistled… it’s hard to believe.
“But here at the club, people, the ultras, are demanding, they are very passionate and they see the best players coming in and we are eliminated in the last 16 of the Champions League, it’s normal that they are disappointed. It happens everywhere.
“Here, it happens with the best in the world. Leo does not pay attention, it’s a detail. It’s football. We know it’s like that, it has to be like that.
“We have to be strong. It’s football, these kinds of things happen.”
Di Maria on his future
Di Maria’s seven-year stay at PSG is set to come to an end when his contract expires in June, and GOAL has reported that Juventus have offered the winger a one-year deal in Turin.
Reports of a potential return to Argentina have also been widespread, but Di Maria wants to keep playing at the highest level of club football to boost his chances of going to the 2022 World Cup.
PSG could still trigger their option to tie Di Maria down for another season, which is his personal preference, as he has confirmed: “The contract ends in June and my idea is to stay here. I would like my last year in Europe to be here in Paris. I don’t know if the club has the same desire.
“There is a pre-contract, we will see if we sign it or not, otherwise I will see the possibility of going to another team in Europe to arrive in the best possible way at the World Cup, if I am called up.”
