Man Utd ridiculed as Di Maria admits he didn't want to move

Even Manchester United's silver lining is starting to look tarnished after record signing Angel di Maria, who arrived at Old Trafford hours before the Red Devils were humiliated by MK Dons, revealed that he never wanted to leave his former club Real Madrid.

In an open letter to fans in Spain, the £60m recruit said: "I have to go but I want to make clear that this was never my desire."

In The Guardian's translation of the letter he continued: "Like anyone who works, I've always wanted to progress. After winning La Decima [Real's 10th Champions League] I went to the World Cup with the hope of receiving a gesture from the board, which never arrived. Many things and many lies were told. Someone may not like me."

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He insisted that he was not motivated by money and hopes to find the "things that I value" at Manchester United. He also described United as "one of the biggest clubs in the world".

However, that status appeared to be under threat last night after defeat to lowly MK Dons. And the result prompted an outpouring of mockery on social media, much of it aimed at Di Maria, who is the record signing for a Premier League club.

But if the Argentine's letter hinted at misgivings over the move, fans on Twitter were rather less subtle.

And it wasn't just Di Maria who was taking flak. Unsurprisingly new manager Louis van Gaal was also singled out for abuse.

While others spared a thought for United's previous manager, the much maligned David Moyes.

But perhaps even more galling for United fans would have been the reaction of rivals like Man City striker Edin Dzeko, who responded to the result with a simple but effective tweet, which read, simply: "Hahahaha".