Madrid included anti-Barça clause in Di Maria United sale

As the team at Football Leaks continue to release previously unpublicised material, today we have been made privy to the sales contract of Angel Di Maria between Real Madrid and Manchester United. Included in the agreement to sell Di Maria to the English club was an anti-Barcelona clause - as well as, although to a lesser extent, for other LaLiga clubs - which was even more restrictive than the one agreed in the transfer of Mesut Ozil to Arsenal. Under the agreement, Manchester United would have to pay Real Madrid 50 million euros should they sell Di Maria to Barcelona or another Spanish club within a year of the transaction occurring (summer 2015).

This amount would reduce by 10 million euros as each season passed thereafter meaning that United would have to pay 40 million if the transfer occured before the market closed in the summer of 2016 and 30 if it took place in the window of 2017. From this date United would not have to pay any compensation to Madrid if they had sold the Argentinian to a Laliga club - with the exception of Barça. If they did so, there would be a payment due of 30 million euros and this clause would remain until the end of Di Maria's contract with them, due to expire in 2019.

The agreement also included two clauses that could enrich further the Real Madrid coffers but, as things transpired, these conditions did not come into play. The first would have required a payment of one million euros if United played in the group stages of the Champions League while the Argentine was in their squad. Since he only played one season with the Red Devils (2014/15), in which they had not qualified for the competition under the leadership of David Moyes, there was no payment due. The other 'bonus' built in to the contract was for five million euros being payable if Di Maria was to be one of three finalists for the Balon D'Or with another five if he went on to lift the award. Again this did not come to pass.

Madrid also considered other potentially damaging loopholes and wanted to hinder a transfer of "El Fideo" (The Noodle being his nickname) to a Spanish rival having gone via another club. That is to say, if United sold Di Maria to a non-Spanish club (as they did with PSG) that in turn sold him back to LaLiga. In this case the conditions stated about payments due would apply just as if there had not been an intermediary. The only exception to this is the obvious stipulation that there would be no payment required if the he was sold back to Real Madrid. That could have been a very interesting debate had it not been included.

The leaked document confirms that the transfer fee was 75 million euros plus development rights, which were borne by United, and that amount could rise by about a further four million euros.