Not one to mince words, Jorgelina Cardoso, wife of the Argentine football superstar Angel Di Maria, the WAG lashed out in a tell-all interview, casting harsh criticisms on the city of Manchester and its inhabitants. Her startling revelations give rise to speculations about the factors behind Di Maria’s short-lived, turbulent spell at Manchester United.
Angel Di Maria, an esteemed footballer with notable stints at Benfica and Real Madrid, joined Manchester United in 2014 for a British record transfer fee of £59.7 million. Boasting a stellar career with a Champions League triumph and a portfolio of impressive goals and assists, Di Maria was envisaged as a brilliant addition to the Manchester club. However, his tenure at the club ended up disappointing, featuring only four goals and a barrage of controversies.
The Argentine’s wife, Jorgelina Cardoso, broke her silence on her family’s experience in Manchester, shedding light on what may have caused Di Maria’s unimpressive run at the club. It appears the couple had difficulty adapting to life in the city.
Speaking to the Argentine TV show LAM, Cardoso recounted their move to Manchester: “Angel came to me one day and said, ‘Look at this proposal from Manchester United’. I didn’t want to go, I told him to go alone. ‘Let’s go both of us’, he replied.”
The cultural differences, according to Cardoso, were stark and disconcerting. Their distaste for the city was so profound that she advised her husband, “If you’re ever transferred, make sure it’s anywhere in the world but England.”
Cardoso described the people of Manchester as “weird” and claimed, “The food is disgusting.”
In a further shocking comment about the women of Manchester, Cardoso quipped, “The women look like porcelain.”
It’s not the first time she has ranted about Manchester and the females of the city. Speaking to the Spanish morning show Los Angeles de la Manana in 2020, she reflected on Angel’s move to Manchester United saying:
“I didn’t want to go to Manchester because at that moment in time, I was friends with Gianinna Maradona, who was married to Sergio Aguero, and we flew from Madrid to his house in Manchester to pay him a visit for two or three days when Angel had a few days off at Real Madrid.
“It was horrible! All of it was horrible, we went to the house and we were like, ‘See you later guys, we’re out of here’.
“When we left, I said to him, ‘Go to any country – except England!’
“Anyway, one year later and there we were in England, and it was horrible, a s**thole. I didn’t like anything about it, not a thing.
“The women are all skinny, prim and proper… weird. You’re walking down the street and you don’t know if they’re going to kill you or what.
“The food’s disgusting. All the girls are all dolled up to the nines, perfectly made-up and there’s me with my hair in a bun and with no make-up on.
Anyway, one year later and there we were in England and it was horrible, a s**thole. I didn’t like anything about it, not a thing.
These extreme views might not reflect the experience of every foreign player in Manchester, but they indeed shed light on the potentially jarring cultural differences that international transfers can entail.
Given Di Maria’s controversial exit from Manchester United in 2015, his wife’s comments reignite debates over whether a footballer’s life’s cultural and social aspects impact their performance on the field. Could the couple’s unsettling experience in Manchester have led to Di Maria’s underwhelming performance at United?
While it remains a speculative question, it’s clear that Di Maria’s tenure at Manchester United was a dark chapter in an otherwise luminous career. As the footballer gears up for the upcoming World Cup in Qatar, one can’t help but reflect on the stark contrast between his post-United success at PSG and his turbulent time in Manchester.