Speculation has been rife Jose Mourinho was on the verge of making Di Maria his first signing for Real Madrid, with the player himself professing excitement at the prospective move.

However, his club insist they have not been approached for the Argentina international.

A statement read: "There are no offers whatsoever that have been made to this company from any club, notably Real Madrid, company, businessman or any intermediary for the athlete Angel Di Maria.

"We are not aware of any ongoing negotiations regarding the aforementioned athlete.

"Moreover, this company has only been made aware of possible interest from other clubs in the aforementioned athlete through the various reports in the media."

Di Maria has been at Benfica since 2007 and only extended his contract last October, tying him to the Portuguese giants until 2015.

The deal also saw his release clause increased to 40million euros and Benfica president Luis Filipe Vieira yesterday claimed they would not entertain any offer for the 22-year-old below that figure.