Angel Di Maria has a new team: Benfica announces it

A new, old team for the former HCL man.

Angel Di Maria is returning to Benfica. Having left Juventus at the end of last season, the Argentine was announced by the Lusitanian club as the team’s new reinforcement. It was in Lisbon that he had first worn the jersey of a European club, later moving to Real Madrid, Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain and, in 2022-2023, to the Old Lady. Both his arrival and departure from Turin were on a zero-parameter basis.

“Angel Di Maria has signed a contract with Sport Lisboa and Benfica,” reads the Portuguese club’s website, “and is a new addition to the team led by Roger Schmidt. The player will be in Lisbon tomorrow, Thursday, July 6, and the Benfiquista family is invited to come and welcome Di Maria on his return. Starting at 7:04 p.m., at Centenario Square, next to the statue of Eusebio, at the Estádio da Luz.”

Di Maria had said goodbye to Juventus in early June with a post on Instagram. “I have come to the end of a difficult and complicated stage,” he had written, “I leave with the tranquility of someone who has given everything to help the club continue to win titles, but it has not been possible. I leave with the bitter taste of not having succeeded but with the happiness of taking with me many friends from this wonderful locker room of which I was a part. Thanks to all my teammates for their affection from day one, I always felt at home. A big hello to all the Juventini for their daily affection. A big hug. I carry you in my heart.”