ANGEL Di Maria has told Real Madrid he wants to leave the club and has rejected the offer of a new contract, coach Carlo Ancelotti has revealed.
Di Maria has been heavily linked with a move to Manchester United, with recent reports suggesting the Red Devils are willing to spend up to £100m on the transfer fee and wages to take the Argentina winger to Old Trafford.
Ancelotti has previously given little away about Di Maria's future but yesterday confirmed that the 26-year-old has asked to leave the European champions.
"Di Maria asked to go in the summer and has rejected an offer from the club," Ancelotti said at a press conference.
"The player has to look for a solution. If when the (transfer) market closes he's still here, he will work with us like last season and there will be no problem."
Ancelotti, speaking ahead of tonight's Supercopa second leg against Atletico Madrid, added: "He's a Real Madrid player and until August 31, as I've already said, anything can happen.
"I'm surprised to read that there seems to be some disagreement (about Di Maria) between the club and me. There's no disagreement and we both think the same."
Ancelotti also revealed that midfielder Sami Khedira has rejected the offer of a new contract - although the World Cup winner has not said he wants to leave.
Arsenal are reportedly keen on the 27-year-old, who has seen competition for a place in the Madrid midfield increase this summer with the signings of his Germany teammate Toni Kroos and Colombia star James Rodriguez.
Ancelotti said of Khedira: "It's a different situation to Di Maria. He's not asked to go. He's rejected an offer to renew, but has a year of contract. We'll see what happens."
Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes yesterday put Di Maria and Khedira on a list of five players United need to recruit if they are to avoid a descent into long-term decline.
Scholes is concerned that United will find it just as tough as Liverpool have to get back to the top, should they leave it too late to cure the team's current ills.
A home defeat to Swansea on the opening day of the Premier League campaign suggested new manager Louis van Gaal has plenty of work to do in order to improve even on last season's m i s e r a b l e performance, when United trailed in seventh in the top flight.
Scholes claims he was asked last season, when working on the Old Trafford coaching staff, whether United should move for Cesc Fabregas or Kroos over the summer.
In the end, Fabregas left Barcelona for Chelsea and Kroos went to Madrid.
It is not known whether United made a formal offer for either midfield player.
"Either way," said Scholes, "the situation now, with 11 days of the transfer window left, has become ever more desperate for my former club. They have to sign some quality players.
"I am scared for United. Genuinely scared that they could go into the wilderness in the same way that Liverpool did in the 1990s."
He added: "What do United need? Five players. Not five players with potential. Five experienced players for now. Five proper players who can hit the ground running and turn around a situation that looks desperate.
"United's forwards are as good as any team in the league. The problem is what comes behind them."
Scholes identified the Real quartet of Xabi Alonso, Khedira, Raphael Varane and Di Maria as players he would target, along with Borussia Dortmund and Germany centre-back Mats Hummels.
Insisting United's chief executive should take the initiative, Scholes added: "Ed Woodward keeps telling us that the money is there. I would say that now is the time to start spending it."