Max Allegri pushing for Angel Di Maria contract extension
Because of the situation he arrived in, this time of the 2022-23 season was always going have a discussion surrounding Angel Di Maria’s future. And that was with the obvious unknown of how Di Maria would be playing at the time where winter’s final weeks approach.
Well, as Di Maria is clearly Juventus’ going these days, those contractual matters have become quite the potential talking point.
That’s especially so coming out of Di Maria’s masterclass against Nantes this past Thursday night that allowed Juventus to advance to the Europa League Round of 16. According to reports from La Gazzetta dello Sport and Tuttomercatoweb, Juve manager Max Allegri is keen on trying to get Di Maria to sign a new contract at the club, with the 35-year-old Argentine’s form over the last two months showing the veteran manager that he could very much be a quality piece to next season’s puzzle.
Di Maria signed a one-year contract with Juventus this past summer and it has been widely assumed that he will head back to his hometown club, Rosario, to close out his career after his deal in Turin expires.
But with Di Maria’s form over the last six weeks or so — a period of time in which he’s scored six goals in all competitions in 2023 — the Italian press is continuing to push the notion that a contract extension is possible. That is on top of the fact that Di Maria has talked about being happy in Turin, which is surely only feeling more and more the case with how his form has been after coming back from the World Cup.
Di Maria weighing up a potential contract extension from Juventus surely depends on what is happening at the club as much as anything. With the Copa America coming up in the summer of 2024, Juventus could offer Di Maria some sort of European football if the Bianconeri are able to qualify and no more sporting penalties are handed down.
This is an easy call from Juventus’ point of view considering what Di Maria still appears to have left in the tank. But it’s obviously a different kind of decision for Di Maria himself considering that it’s the call of his home and desire to wrap up his incredibly accomplished career that has seen him win just about everything there is.
The good thing is that there is still time to decide. That could also be looked as a negative, but you know for a fact that Juventus’ front office along with Allegri — who himself could be in for an interesting summer — are going to try as much as they can to keep Di Maria around for another season.