Wayne Rooney is in no doubt that Angel Di Maria will start to put in some match-winning performances for Manchester United before the end of this Premier League season.

The Red Devils skipper has spoken out on the 27-year-old Argentinian, who joined in a near £60million club-record switch from Real Madrid last summer, following a disappointing first-half performance in Saturday’s 2-0 win against Sunderland at Old Trafford.

Boss Louis van Gaal opted to take Di Maria off at the interval and insisted that he still requires more time to get fully acclimatised to playing in England despite the fact he made a bright start in the opening months of the season.

Rooney has spoken out to echo van Gaal’s claims and he is certain that Di Maria will get back to the performances which saw him secure the man-of-the-match award in Real Madrid’s Champions League final win against Atletico Madrid in May before helping Argentina reach the World Cup final in Brazil.

Rooney said: “He’s a great player. You don’t lose your talent overnight. Hopefully he’ll get back to his best and start giving some great performances.

“I think he will figure it out, we all have to do that sometimes. You have to come to it in your own way and I am sure he will be a big player for us between now and the end of the season.”

Di Maria will get another chance to shine on Wednesday when United travel to Newcastle in the Premier League. The Red Devils are 2.03 to win at St James’ Park, while the Magpies are 3.62 and the draw is 3.32.