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.”
Manchester’s libraries to become ‘warm spaces’ with free hot drinks and WiFi this winter
Emily Sergeant
Manchester’s libraries are set to become ‘warm welcome spaces’ offering free hot drinks and internet access to those in need again this winter.
After millions of local residents visited the ‘stigma-free safe spaces’ to escape and take refuge from the cold each year since they were first introduced in 2022, Manchester City Council has decided to reintroduce its popular ‘Warm Welcome Spaces’ scheme again this year during the chillier months.
All 22 of Manchester‘s public libraries are, once again, taking part in the scheme this time around.
Designed to ‘provide support to people who need it’ over some of the most challenging months of the year when temperatures drop, the Council’s scheme is offering a range of different services – and they’re all for free of charge.
Free hot drinks, WiFi and internet access, data SIM cards, and newspapers are just some of the things people can make the most of inside these ‘warm spaces’, as well as get access to information, advice, and extra signposting to other support services they made need in the city.
Manchester’s libraries will become ‘warm spaces’ with free hot drinks and WiFi again this winter / Credit: Haydon Waldeck | koolshooters (Pexels)
There will be age-friendly spaces to connect with others, story times once a week at 11am for children under five, and even weekly digital drop-ins too.
Manchester Central Library, Miles Platting Community Library, Hulme High Street Library, Beswick Library, Longsight Library, and Abraham Moss Library are just some of the libraries taking part this winter.
All 22 libraries will be free to enter, and the Council says people can stay in them ‘for as long as you like’.
“For many years, the Council has been a proud supporter of the Warm Welcome Spaces initiative,” explained Councillor Thomas Robinson, who is the Executive Member for Healthy Manchester and Adult Social Care at Manchester City Council.
“In Manchester we have been all too aware of the impact of the cost-of-living crisis and the hardships people have suffered as a result.
“It’s not an exaggeration to say this work has the potential to be lifesaving. The simple act of offering a person a safe place where they can interact with other Mancunians, to not feel alone or get the help they need, can have a lasting and meaningful impact.”
Find your local free ‘Warm Welcome Space’ in Manchester here.
Featured Image – RawPixel
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Jürgen Klopp reveals the main reason he turned down the Manchester United job
Danny Jones
Former Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp has revealed one of the main reasons he turned down the Manchester United job more than a decade ago.
The ex-Borussia Dortmund boss turned Merseyside hero spent nine years at Anfield, going on to win a Champions League, Premier League, and a collection of cups.
It’s also worth noting that this all came in the years following the departure of legendary Man United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, but there could have been an alternate reality where Klopp carried on where ‘Fergie’ left off, as the now 58-year-old says the club spoke to him during that time.
With Sir Alex leaving in 2013 after the best part of 30 years, Klopp told Steven Bartlett on his most recent Diary of A CEO episode that “of course, they were interested.”
OUT NOW!
💥Jürgen Klopp on The Diary Of A CEO
Some of the topics we cover:
•His surprise at Liverpool’s £450m transfer window and why he didn’t get the same money
•He says a return to Liverpool is possible – but he couldn’t ask for just one year off
Admitting that the interest was mutual “at one point”, the prospect of joining Liverpool‘s historic rivals clearly appealed to him.
Noting that he was flourishing as an up-and-coming coach (aged 46 back then) in charge of an impressive Dortmund team – adding that even some of his then future players to be at Liverpool flew to watch them play in the Champions League – it’s clear he had plenty of suitors.
However, the retired German footballer turned ‘Gegenpressing’ tactician goes on to explain that despite United trying to poach him from the Bundesliga, it was “the wrong time, wrong moment for me.”
Crucially, he says that some aspects of the conversations between him and the club at the time proved to be a turn-off rather than an incentive, citing talk of ‘the biggest club in the world’ and supposedly “signing any player we want.”
In short, Klopp says that, crucially, it didn’t sound like it would have been his project, drawing parallels to the board wanting to bring back players like Paul Pogba, with arguably similar ‘mistakes’ being made with the return of Cristiano Ronaldo. In his eyes, looking backwards simply “never helps”.
You can see the clip in full here:
Had he not turned down the offer, do you think Klopp could have helped rebuild Man United?
According to Klopp, after negotiations seemed to revolve primarily around the kind of players they were going to bring in, he decided the opportunity wasn’t for him.
Nevertheless, it looked like things worked out for Merseyside’s biggest club, at least, as he went on to become one of the most successful managers in the Premier League, managing to break up the long period of dominance overseen by both Manchester United and, most recently, Man City.
As for the red half of Manchester, they at the very least had a good weekend as they finally ended their long wait for a win away against Liverpool.
In case you missed it, you can watch the highlights – including another big clutch goal from Harry Maguire – down below.
Emily Sergeant -
25th August 2022 
