Former Paris Saint-Germain winger Angel Di Maria is running out of time.
The Argentina international has a strong offer from Juventus on the table, but the lure of donning the royal blue of Blaugrana is forcing him to delay his decision, reports Spanish publication SPORT.
As of today, the 34-year-old is standing on the edge of a knife as the Italian team wants to know whether or not he will accept their offer this week itself. As such, their proposal is, in fact, the most ideal.
After their initial proposition of a two-year deal was rejected by the player, the team from Turin came up with a one-year contract with an option of extending it to another year.
On top of that, a generous salary of about €7 million per season with bonuses was included too.
The aforementioned proposal satisfies the 34-year-old’s every need, but he still hasn’t put pen to paper since Barcelona are hanging in the back of his mind.
For the Blaugrana, they know Leeds United’s Raphinha is the priority at the moment, but sorting out a deal for the Brazilian is not a matter of days. It will take a significant effort and an equal amount of time.
In all fairness, the chances of Barcelona signing Raphinha in the summer are anyway bleak, since the price tag of €50 million is too much for Barcelona to even consider. Not to forget, the reported interest from Arsenal can spoil the party in Catalonia, too.
Barcelona know the leverage they have since the Brazilian is represented by one of their former players, Deco, but they cannot wait for long to solve the issue, something that stands perfectly in line with Di Maria.
While he knows Barcelona are very much interested, the offer from Juventus will most probably expire soon if he does not come up with a definitive answer.
In an otherwise scenario, if Juventus pull out of the deal and Barcelona somehow manage to sign Raphinha, the Argentine will be left without any top suitor.