Man Utd face fight to keep Di Maria and Van Persie

Arsenal and Liverpool keen on Lavezzi but could miss out if he is used as Man Utd makeweight

Angel di Maria of Man United
(Image credit: Michael Regan/Getty)

Spare a thought for Ezequiel Lavezzi on Black Friday, as Paris Saint-Germain prepare to dress the player up "as bait" in their bid to land Manchester United winger Angel di Maria for a knock-down price in the summer.

The Daily Star claims that the French champions have their hearts set on Di Maria for next season and have come up with a cunning ruse to ensure they get their man. With Lavezzi allegedly "stalling on a new deal", PSG were planning set to sell the frontman, possibly to Arsenal and Liverpool, who had both interested in signing the 29-year-old Argentine. But that was before some bright spark in Paris hatched a cunning plan to bring winger Di Maria across the Channel in exchange for his fellow countryman.

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Bill Mann is a football correspondent for The Week.co.uk, scouring the world's football press daily for the popular Transfer Talk column.