Ángel Di María is on the verge of returning to Benfica. The Portuguese top club is set to acquire the 35-year-old Argentine winger on a free transfer from Juventus. This news is reported by Fabrizio Romano and confirmed by all major Portuguese newspapers.
The Portuguese newspaper A BOLA already linked Di María to a transfer to O Glorioso on Monday's front page. According to Romano, that transfer is now almost complete: Di María will sign a one-year contract.
Di María has previously played for Benfica. In 2007, the Portuguese powerhouse acquired Di María from Argentine club Rosario Central for a transfer fee of eight million euros. The winger made his breakthrough in Europe with the Portuguese top club. With five goals and twelve assists in the 2009/2010 season, he played a crucial role in helping Benfica win the Portuguese league title for the second time in sixteen years (after 1994 and again in 2005).
After that season, he made a transfer to Real Madrid, where he won every possible trophy. The Argentine was in the starting lineup during Real's victorious Champions League final in the 2013/2014 season. He then joined Paris Saint-Germain before ending up at Juventus last season. However, the paths between the Old Lady and Di María are separating after just one year.
During the recent winter transfer window, the winger scored one of the three Argentine goals in the World Cup final against France. He netted the 2-0 goal after a beautifully executed counterattack. Di María currently has 132 international caps and 29 goals for Argentina.
At Benfica, Di María will be playing under the leadership of former PSV coach Roger Schmidt. Fredrik Aursnes and Orkun Kökcü are the other familiar faces in this team.
