Pablo Zabaleta believes Angel Di Maria will be a great signing for Manchester United and thinks his Argentina teammate is a talent who every club on the planet would have wanted.
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Di Maria sealed his move from Real Madrid to United for a British record fee of 59.7 million pounds on Tuesday.
And though Zabaleta plays for local rivals Manchester City, who were reportedly offered the winger, he thinks the 26-year-old represents an excellent piece of business, even at the price.
He told the Manchester Evening News: "With Di Maria, I have to say United have signed one of those players that every single club in the world would like to sign. He's a top player.
"He has been at Real Madrid and has won a lot of trophies -- he's won the Champions League and has great experience there.
"He's a great player, he's fast, he's direct, sets up goals and can score them. They are spending a lot of money but he will be a great signing for them.
"He has signed for United and of course I can't say I want United to win, but I wish him the best and I hope he can play well.
"We'll see where [United manager Louis] van Gaal is going to play him, where he fits into that system. I've seen him play in different positions, not just as a winger, so we'll see.
"I'll look forward to going up against him. We are friends, we'll always be friends off the field but not in that game."
Zabaleta and Di Maria were both members of the Argentina squad who reached this summer's World Cup final.
Marcos Rojo, Van Gaal's other recent recruit, also played in Brazil and Zabaleta said he has been offering the United pair advice about their new surroundings.
He added: "I've been talking to them both a lot about living in Manchester in the last few days. Di Maria and Rojo are on the other side but I am very pleased for both of them because I know them very well."