Angel di Maria got a hero's welcome as you would expect for the 35 year old when it was announced that he was returning to Benfica after departing the club thirteen years earlier.
Di Maria signed a contract for one season with a salary in excess of €9M and it got off how you hoped as Di Maria netted the eventually game winner in Benfica's Super Cup triumph over bitter rivals FC Porto back in August.
Di Maria then started the league season on fire, potting five goals while providing two helpers in the club's first seven games of the season. Then the injury bug hit in early October, and Di Maria has since been a shell of the player who looked poised to carry this club on another spectacular run.
Di Maria has now gone pointless in his past five league games and past two Champions League games with his lone marker being a free kick in a League Cup game. Those are not the totals you want to see from a player over the past two months who makes double what any other player makes in the Portuguese League.
Some may say that Benfica's finishing has been less then clinical; I agree but when a 19 year old tends to be the club's best performer game in and game out over the past few months with the talent that this club should have, it speaks volumes about what Di Maria has failed to bring over that same span.
Argentinian side Rosario Central is hoping to bring Di Maria back home for his final season or two. I say, let him go and book the private jet to Buenos Aires and get this thing moving along; the sooner the better.
It is normal for players to go cold, but when they do, they need to bring other aspects of their games up while they try to get out of the funk. But when a player is cold and becoming a liability defensively for the squad, then it is time to sit his butt on the bench. Are you listening Roger Schmidt or Rui Costa?
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