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.
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.”
Pep Guardiola hints at when Manchester City fans can expect to see their latest arrival
Danny Jones
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has given supporters a rough timeline as to when they can expect to see their new signing, or at least their latest arrival, make his first appearance.
The Blues wrapped up the January transfer window with four major signings: their new attacking number seven, Omar Marmoush (who has already bagged a hattrick on his home debut) promising defensive duo, Abdukodir Khusanov and Brazilian Vitor Reis, as well as their ‘mini-Rodri’, Nico Gonzalez.
However, the club has had another late arrival who was technically signed back at the start of last year but who has spent for the last 12 months or so loaned back to his previous parent club, River Plate in Argentina, waiting to make the move over to the Etihad Stadium – and now he’s here in Manchester.
Speaking on his touchdown in 0161, Pep said Claudio Echeverri won’t be thrown into first-team action straight away but did give a rough estimate as to when City fans could expect him to get involved. You can see him discussing the integration plan in his post-match press conference following the Spurs win.
The mention was only brief but there’s still plenty of reason for Man City fans to be excited by the late January signing.
“Yeah, he [Claudio Echeverri] is going to start to train and mainly will be for the end of the season, maybe the [Club] World Cup and as soon as possible [that] he arrives he can adapt quick for the future.”
As mentioned, the 19-year-old Argentinian attacking midfielder from Resistencia officially put pen to paper with CFG back in January 2024 and was quickly dubbed ‘the next Messi’.
Now, although the football world is often quick to jump the gun with these things and he isn’t the first and certainly won’t be last to be slapped with this premature title, he’s done more to back up these claims since then than he has rubbish them.
Starring at the 2025 Under-20 South American Championships, netting six goals in nine games to finish the tournament as the second highest scorer thanks to notable braces against Brazil and Uruguay as the young Argentine’s finished as runners up.
He also notched 48 senior appearances for River Plate thus far, netting four goals and grabbing eight assists in that time, not to mention having already captained his national team at the 2023 Under 17s World Cup, where he scored another five.
Safe to say there’s plenty of talent to be tapped in this lad.
Once again, Echeverri won’t go straight into the senior set-up for a little while yet, barring a major injury crisis, but he’ll be a more than exciting addition to the City Football Academy and for future first-team lineups for years to come.
Who knows, maybe he’ll be included in an FA Cup matchday squad? Nevertheless, you can expect him to not just come of the bench but hopefully show what he can do at the Club World Cup this summer.
City‘s first fixture as reigning champions of the competition will be against Moroccan side Wydad AC on 18 June 2025.
You can watch Echeverri’s first full interview as a Man City player down below:
The new Man City signing is excited to be finally be part of the club 13 months on from agreeing his contract.
Rochdale has been named Greater Manchester’s ‘Town of Culture’ for 2025
Emily Sergeant
Rochdale has officially been named Greater Manchester’s Town of Culture for 2025.
Taking over the reins from Bolton – which held the title in 2024 – and following in the footsteps of Stockport before that, which held the title in 2023, and even hosted a massive ‘Town of Culture Weekender’ festival with 50+ free events to celebrate and bring its title year to a close, it’s now the turn of the north-eastern Greater Manchester borough of Rochdale.
Rochdale’s year will build on the town’s already-rich cultural history and international reputation as the home of the co-operative movement.
More than 35 arts organisations will be bringing together an ambitious programme of festivals, exhibitions, events, and performances throughout the year.
Unfamiliar with what the ‘Greater Manchester Town of Culture’ title is all about? It’s an accolade that’s handed out every year to different boroughs across the region.
Bury was the inaugural title-holder 2020 and held onto it in 2021 too due to the COVID pandemic, before being followed by Stalybridge in 2022, Stockport in 2023, and of course, Bolton in the year just gone.
The title celebrates Greater Manchester’s culture and heritage.
As well as getting a new title to shout about, it also sees the towns given a grant from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) culture fund to help develop a programme of cultural events and activities throughout the year.
Rochdale has been named Greater Manchester’s ‘Town of Culture’ for 2025 / Credit: The Manc Group | Rochdale Council
In Rochdale’s case, you can expect the ‘very best local talent’, as this year is promising to put ‘people power’ centre stage, with residents helping to plan, develop, and deliver a lineup of creative activities, alongside a number of major events.
This includes the popular free days out for families, an exciting new urban arts festival, two different food and drink festivals, a lantern parade, the Ignite Fire Festival, a Pride parade, and so much more.
You can also expect live music performances, a new people’s gallery, and even some major international collaborations that are yet to be announced.
Rochdale is taking over the reins from Bolton, which held the title in 2024 / Credit: Rochdale Council
“Rochdale is a place with a rich cultural history, so it is great to name it Greater Manchester’s town of culture as it’s town hall and town centre enter a new era,” commented Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham as the borough was crowned this week.
“Rochdale submitted a fantastic bid for this which, was incredibly exciting and ambitious, while being firmly rooted in its local talent and deep history.
Emily Sergeant -
25th August 2022 
