We all know football is called the beautiful game but that refers more to the skills on display than the attractiveness of the players pulling them off. Yeah, Becks and Ronaldo have turned a few heads in their time but football is also littered with success stories that haven’t been as easy on the eye (Tevez, Diego Costa and Shrek Wayne Rooney to name a few).

But sometimes even your sublime skills aren’t enough to save you from being pushed out of the club you love. One big-name footballer who found that out the hard way was Angel di Maria who, according to Barcelona’s assistant Director of Football Carle Rexach, was sold because he just wasn’t pretty enough for the team nicknamed ‘The Galacticos’. TimesLive reports:

Ronaldo is the flagship of the club,” Rexach is quoted as saying.

“[President of Real Madrid FC] Perez is selling an international brand. [Former manager] Vicente del Bosque and Di Maria are too ugly for Real Madrid.

“They are different from Toni Kroos and James Rodriguez [pictured below].”

It is worth noting that Barcelona and Real Madrid are rivals both on and off the pitch but anyone who has watched di Maria at new club Manchester United will know that the lad has ears that would get better cellphone signal than most Cell C users.

[source:timeslive]