Thiago Silva has claimed that Angel di Maria's proposed move to Paris Saint-Germain will be a "step up" from Manchester United.
The 27-year-old is expected to complete a £44m move to the French capital in the coming days.
Despite seemingly being on his way out of the Premier League giants, Silva insists that Di Maria will be joining a club at least on a par with United at this moment in time.
"I think that people now need to respect PSG as a club, and our position as one of the big clubs in Europe," he is quoted as saying by FourFourTwo.
"Real Madrid and Barcelona are probably on another level, but after that if you are joining PSG it means you are probably taking a step up. We went further than any English clubs in Europe last year - even beating the English champions.
"Every season we keep our best players despite much interest, and always add the best players in Europe. How many clubs can say that? The vision our owners have for this club is very clear, and that is for PSG to be the best."
Di Maria joined Man United from Real Madrid last season for a fee of £59.7m, but he struggled to settle during his debut campaign after scoring just four goals.
Daniel Lewis
