The wife of a former Manchester United star has spoken out about how much she hated living in Manchester in a damning interview.
Jorgelina Di María – who is the wife of Argentinian footballer Ángel Di María, who played for the Red Devils between 2014-2015 – has been grabbing headlines after giving a tell-all interview on Argentine TV show LAM this week, and taking aim at our “horrible” city in what seemed to be somewhat unprovoked attack.
Di María signed for Manchester United back in August 2014 for what was a then British transfer record of almost £60 million.
Most of the winger’s club career appearances have been when he played for Paris Saint German between 2015-2022, but prior to arriving in Manchester, Di María enjoyed a four-year spell at Spanish giants Real Madrid, and had played for Benfica in Portugal’s capital Lisbon, as well as Rosario Central in his home country.
United fans will probably remember that the Argentine struggled to adapt to life in the Premier League and left Old Trafford just 11 months later.
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He made only 32 appearances, and scored just four goals and grabbed 12 assists.
And now, it’s transpired that the player himself wasn’t the only one who had found it difficult to adjust to a life in a new city, as his wife has revealed just how disappointed she was by her husband’s decision to join the club, and initially told him to make the move alone after visiting England on holiday prior to his big-money move.
Jorgelina slammed life in Manchester, the people, the food, and even the appearance of the women.
She told Argentine TV show LAM: “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.
“It was a lot of money, more than the Spaniards had offered, so we went.”
It seems like Jorgelina was less than impressed by the city from the pair’s initial visit: “We were friends with Gianinna Maradona, Sergio Aguero’s ex wife, and we travelled to Manchester on vacation [but] it was always horrible. We came home and I said: ‘If you’re ever transferred, make sure it’s anywhere in the world but England.’
“I didn’t like it at all – I can tell you.
“People are all weird. You walk around and you don’t know if they’re going to kill you. The food is disgusting. The women look like porcelain.
“Angel and I were in Madrid, at the best team in the world, perfect food, perfect weather, everything was perfect. And then came United’s proposal. I told him ‘no way, no way’, but he kept saying we will be a little more financially secure and we have to go. We fought about it.”
Jorgelina admitted that while she doesn’t blame her husband for making the move to United, explaining that “if you work in a company and someone offers you double the salary, you go running” – but that doesn’t change her opinion on the city.
“It was horrible, so horrible,” she added.
“I just told him, ‘darling, I want to kill myself, it’s night time at two o’clock.'”
Ángel Di María had previously spoken about his time at Manchester United, saying of his own departure back in 2016: “I started very well, then I had problems with people in the club. I started going to the bench, this happens in football. After the robbery at my house, everything made me want to leave quickly.”
There are pairs of tickets to a load of events up for grabs as part of ‘The Great Christmas Giveaway’
Danny Jones
International ticketing platform See Tickets is gifting selected pairs of tickets to a lucky bunch this winter as part of ‘The Great Christmas Giveaway’.
After all, they do call it the ‘season of giving’.
Teaming up with promotion partners, music artists and other organisers, See Tickets has decided to give out a bunch of passes, ranging from gigs and sporting events to theatre and comedy.
We wouldn’t be doing our jobs properly if we didn’t at least try to let you in on the possibility of winning some live entertainment freebies.
Thankfully, there are plenty of them; there are over a dozen tickets up for grabs in total, split across the six different dates running into next year.
Here’s a quick rundown of what’s on offer:
See Tickets Great Christmas Giveaway – the full list of events
Fancy seeing a Disney classic brought to life on stage? There are a possible four tickets to see Herclues: The Musical to be won, not to mention drinks vouchers and a bonus goodie bag.
All you need to do is follow @seetickets and @eventimuk on Instagram, like and share the post below to your story; tag a friend and tell your best Christmas joke by 00:01am this Monday, 8 December 2025. You can see a trailer from the highly praised performances down in the capital down below.
Two tickets to see Greg Davies
Yes, the second event revealed by See Tickets as part of this year’s Great Christmas Giveaway is the latest live stand-up tour show by the quite literally massive funny man, Greg Davies.
Playing at the Hammersmith Apollo down in London, this time you need to like, follow, share and tag a friend naming your favourite character by Tuesday, 9 December 2025 – again, before 00:01.
In case you somehow missed it, Take That are heading back out on the road for the 10th anniversary of The Circus album and tour – this time, you can pick the show of your choosing.
Same idea again: follow both pages, like and share, tag a friend, and this time, tell them your favourite album by the band. You enter by 00:01 this Thursday, 11 December.
This one is for all the rock fans. Slam Dunk Festival celebrates 20 years next summer, and what better way to toast the milestone than to be there not only in the flesh but in VIP?
You can pick either North or South, but let’s be honest – Leeds is the only place to be. Follow the same terms as above, and then just tell the comments which artist you’re most excited to see. Again, entry closes at 00:01 on Thursday (11 Dec).
Never giving up on a Rick Astley gig
Up next, how about seeing a living music legend of the North West on his upcoming arena tour? The one and only Rick Astley isn’t just back on the up, but if confirmed as the winner, you can select the date of your choice.
Once again, meet the usual requirements listed previously, plus leave your favourite Rick Astley song in the comments. Yes, you can pick that one – just make sure you do it by a minute after midnight on Wednesday, 10 December…
Last but not least, if you’re partial to a bit of pugilism and/or bloodsport, you can watch cult favourite combat sport Cage Warriors at your preferred venue AND win a signed pair of official Cage Warrior gloves too.
With the winner due to be announced just after midnight on Friday, 12 December, make sure you’ve met all the standard entry requirements and let other fans know which fighter you’re most looking forward to seeing. Simple as that!
Best of luck to everyone throwing names into the hat for their event of choice, and let us know in the comments if any of you win!
We’re not done there either; there are plenty of other free tickets coming up in Greater Manchester ahead of the new year, too.
Featured Images — Press shots (supplied)/Audio North
Trending
Joey Barton officially sentenced over offensive online posts
Danny Jones
Retired footballer Joey Barton has officially been sentenced following a series of offensive posts on social media over the past year or so.
Six counts pertaining to three individuals, in particular, were highlighted when he appeared for his final hearing at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday, 8 December: online abuse directed at fellow ex-pros Eni Aluko, Lucy Ward and broadcaster Jeremy Vine.
Charged and now finally found guilty of ‘grossly offensive electronic communication with intent to cause distress or anxiety’, Joey Barton has been given a six-month prison sentence – suspended for 18 months, however, meaning he won’t serve jail time unless he reoffends during this period.
Here he is queuing up outside the Crown Court earlier today:
BREAKING: Former footballer Joey Barton given six-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months over "grossly offensive" social media posts about Jeremy Vine, Lucy Ward and Eni Aluko. pic.twitter.com/dQuAAT1mQu
For context, the social media posts in question refer to the ones made on X (previously known as Twitter) and directed at the aforementioned public figures.
The former Manchester City player and Liverpool youth product, who is originally from Merseyside but is now based around Widnes in Cheshire, was found guilty on Friday despite insisting his innocence throughout.
Barton – now 43 and having become a vocal far-right commentator – compared Aluko and Ward to two of the most infamous convicted serial killers in British history, writing that they were “the Fred and Rose West of football commentary” back in January 2024.
He also labelled radio host and TV presenter, Vine, a “bike nonce” in a post that he later went on to dismiss as nothing more than “crude banter” and an attempt at “dark and stupid humour”, stating that he has no intention of actually suggesting he was a paedophile.
Elsewhere in the court appearance, Barton claimed that he is a victim of “political prosecution”; nevertheless, the judge found that the one-time England international (who also played for Newcastle, QPR, Burnley, Rangers and Marseille) “crossed the line between free speech and a crime.”
You can see the moment Judge Andrew Menary handed down the verdict, which will see him avoid time in custody once more, in full down below.
As per an official update via the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), Senior Prosecutor Callum Bryce of CPS Mersey-Cheshire said: “Between early January and mid-March 2024, Barton subjected three public figures to offences of malicious communications.
“Barton said in his evidence before the court that in some of his messages he was trying to make a serious point in a provocative way and that in others he was simply joking.
“The finding of the jury confirmed that his conduct had gone beyond any joke and his messages were grossly offensive with the purpose of causing anxiety and distress to his victims.”
It’s also worth noting that he has been charged, found guilty and sentenced before already this year.
Emily Sergeant -
25th August 2022 
