The former Real Madrid and Manchester United winger retired from Argentina duty in the summer after winning two Copa America titles and the World Cup in 2022.
Now, after skipping the likes of Alejandro Garnacho and Atletico Madrid’s Julian Alvarez, he has picked Buonanotte as his successor.
“There are players with a lot of quality, and I really like Buonanotte,” Di Maria said when asked to name his heir in the Argentina squad. “It's not easy to get into the national team, but he's a player I really like. I think he can give a lot to the team.”
Buonanotte did not feature for his country this week and did not even make it on to the 12-man bench as Argentina faced Paraguay and Peru, but after a solid start to life at Leicester the midfielder obviously has a bright future if his talent has been recognised this early in his career.
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