Football
Richard Jolly, ESPN.com writer 10y

Angel Di Maria proud to wear Manchester United's No. 7 shirt

MANCHESTER, England -- Angel Di Maria shrugged off his British record transfer fee and insisted he wanted the pressure of wearing Manchester United's famous No. 7 shirt after Cristiano Ronaldo told him of its importance.

Ronaldo followed George Best, Bryan Robson, Eric Cantona and David Beckham in excelling as United's No. 7 before joining Real Madrid, where he was a team-mate of Di Maria's.

The Argentinian, who cost United 59.7 million pounds, was man of the match as Real won May's Champions League final and hopes to achieve similar heights with his new club.

And he does not believe his price tag will be a problem, saying at a news conference: "It does not bother me the fact that 60 million pounds has been paid for me. That is something the club chairmen have to discuss between them."

The 26-year-old revealed that both he and United were eager for him to wear No. 7, which has been vacant since Antonio Valencia relinquished it in 2013.

He added: "I was aware of the importance of the No. 7 shirt, Cristiano Ronaldo had spoken to me at Real Madrid and told me how important it was. I wanted to wear this shirt and do as much for the club as Ronaldo and the others could do."

Di Maria has operated as a left and right winger during parts of his career but said he is happy to operate more centrally in manager Van Gaal's new-look 3-4-1-2 formation.

"I come here to work for the team and I am prepared to play in any position he wants to," he said. "It depends on the manager where he wants to play me."

United only finished seventh in the Premier League last season, are not competing in Europe and have not won any of their first three games of the current campaign but Di Maria said none of that stopped him from joining them.

He explained: "I like the Manchester United team and I wanted to come here even though they are not playing in the Champions League. I want to help the team win the Champions League or to get into the Champions League and I think I can help. I am very pleased the manager chose me to come to Manchester United."

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