Pablo Zabaleta says Angel Di Maria will prove he is worth the British record £59.7 million (Dh362.8m) that Manchester United have spent on him to restore their hurt pride and faltering fortunes.

The pair were part of the Argentina side that lost to Germany in this summer’s World Cup final.

And Manchester City full-back Zabaleta says Di Maria has the quality to be a massive success after swapping Real Madrid for Old Traf­ford, despite the hefty price tag and that he will be playing for his own side’s neighbours and rivals.

“With Di Maria I have to say United have signed one of those players that every single club in the world would like to sign, he’s a top player,” said Zabaleta.

“He has been at Real Madrid and has won a lot of trophies – he’s won the Champions League and has great experience there. He’s a great player, he’s fast, he’s direct, sets up goals and can score them. They are spending a lot of money but he will be a great signing for them.

“He has signed for United – and of course I can’t say I want United to win – but I wish him the best and hope he can play well.”

Di Maria joins another compatriot in left-back Marcos Rojo at United as new manager Louis van Gaal looks to reshape his side following a start that has seen them fail to register a win in the first three games, including a 4-0 League Cup humbling at MK Dons on Tuesday.

With Martin Demichelis, Sergio Aguero, Willy Caballero and Bruno Zuculini also at City, Zabaleta joked that the “Argentinians are coming and taking over Manchester now”.

But he added: “Di Maria and Rojo are on the other side though.

“I’ll look forward to going up against him (Di Maria). We are friends, we’ll always be friends off the field but not in that game (the derby).”

Zabaleta, Demichelis and Aguero have added incentive not to allow United to replace City at the top after World Cup heartbreak.

The right-back said: “Of course it was tough to get over it. It’s hard when you get to the final.

“It’s the game that everyone dreams of playing in and once you’re there, you expect to win.

“It was a big shame not to win it after coming so close but we hope we made our country very proud.

“When you go on holiday you think about what happened in Bra­zil but then you start to think about coming back to see your team-mates, people in the club.

“Once you’re back, mentally you prepare to go again.”