Nani | Contract & Transfer talk

[JohnnyLaw]

I just can't put my faith in him anymore. Every year it's the same, he goes missing through injuries or because he's just been sidelined and as our offense goes stale people starts building him up slowly but surely and he pops up in ""-lineups everywhere only to be completely underwhelming when he finally gets the chance and then go missing for another month or so. Repeat.

I'd rather just get rid of him at this point. The only reason i'd like him back is to make up the numbers so we can focus on making some quality signings in the summer and not have to use the budget on utility-players, but that all depends on how LVG wants us to set up tactically.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

You don't want him back because you expect our players to be petulant arseholes who are unhappy whenever someone else than themselves don't score? Ronaldo's not here anymore remember.

I've never seen a United player ever look unhappy when Nani scores so doubt that's a concern.

Was a very strange reaction from the Sporting player and not something I would expect at United. It's obviously fuelled by more than just that one incident, though, and shows that it's team mates as well as fans and managers who find Nani a frustrating player. And this is in season where his performances are getting rave reviews.

 

[Escobar]

All those who want him back, I wonder if they are patient with him if he doesnt perform or if they're also the first ones who want him out again

 

[Nighteyes]

A superb player and proving it once again. All he needed was a run in the side (shock horror!) and unfortunately we decided watching Valencia trying to kill opposing full backs and passing back to the right back was a much better alternative.

 

[RedDevilCanuck]

Nani Rooney Di Maria
------------Mata
--------Blind Carrick
Shaw Rojo Smalling Rafael
-------------DDG

Counter attack. Possession.

 

[Godfather]

I'd take him back in a heartbeat. Twice the player Adnan is atm. Needs to sort his head out mind which is the most difficult thing.

Nani--------Falcao--------Di Maria
--------------Rooney--------------


Looks brilliant.

 

[NK86]

A superb player and proving it once again. All he needed was a run in the side (shock horror!) and unfortunately we decided watching Valencia trying to kill opposing full backs and passing back to the right back was a much better alternative.

Not trying to kill as much as trying to maim them by breaking their shin or something

 

[NK86]

I've never seen a United player ever look unhappy when Nani scores so doubt that's a concern.

Was a very strange reaction from the Sporting player and not something I would expect at United. It's obviously fuelled by more than just that one incident, though, and shows that it's team mates as well as fans and managers who find Nani a frustrating player. And this is in season where his performances are getting rave reviews.

Has there been something I missed? I have only heard exceptional reviews of his performances for Sporting from fans and manager alike.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Has there been something I missed? I have only heard exceptional reviews of his performances for Sporting from fans and manager alike.

His career with Manchester United?

 

[NK86]

His career with Manchester United?

I thought you were only talking about his loan spell with Sporting currently. I never understood the jeering he got while the likes of Young/Valencia and even Daving fkng Moyes got away scot free despite their horrible performances.

 

[2 man midfield]

Anyone think Nani isn't a LvG type of player? by that what I mean is, he likes his teams to play quite mechanically, with simple but effective passing, mechanical in how a team as a whole should function and move forward? rather than allow exceptional deviation even for the most talented of players?

After games he's always talking of players taking the wrong option.. making the wrong choices.. etc?
Doesn't that effectively conflict with Nani's Boom or Bust unorthodox style?

If Di Maria has a place here then I think Nani has too.

 

[Jammydodger7]

I thought you were only talking about his loan spell with Sporting currently. I never understood the jeering he got while the likes of Young/Valencia and even Daving fkng Moyes got away scot free despite their horrible performances.

I hate when fans jeer or boo players and never condone it but I'm guessing it's probably to do with everyone knowing that he can be brilliant and has the ability. I think fans get more frustrated with players who have ability but are inconsistant than they do with players who are just generally shit.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

I thought you were only talking about his loan spell with Sporting currently. I never understood the jeering he got while the likes of Young/Valencia and even Daving fkng Moyes got away scot free despite their horrible performances.

In terms of his Sporting career this season, I was referring to that specific incident only.

Mind you, I do remember @Sly (or someone?) saying that he was a divisive figure amongst fans in his early career in Portugal and tended to attract more stick from fans than any of his team-mates.

 

[Massive Spanner]

I don't see the harm in bringing him back, it could pay off and we could get the quality on the wings we need, it might not pay off and that'll be it for him here, but there's no harm in trying, at least.

Although I suppose it could still be better to let him tear it up there and grab a good fee in the summer.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

I was just wondering, is there any precedent here?

Has any player gone out on loan, played a season of CL football then come back and been a success at his original club?

It's an unusual situation, complicated by this loan stint being at a club/league where he had already been a success before joining United. You'd like to think it would fill him full of confidence about coming back and taking the PL by storm but he might just think he's back where he belongs and should never have moved to England in the first place. Van Gaal might want him back at United but will Nani want to leave Portugal? Unless he's really keen to come back and play for United it's not going to take much for him to lose his desire and self-belief all over again and we're back to square one.

 

[Kag]

In spite of his struggles in recent seasons I still love watching Nani play. Not many players can replicate the footwork he manages in last night's goal.

 

[Sly]

Mind you, I do remember @Sly (or someone?) saying that he was a divisive figure amongst fans in his early career in Portugal and tended to attract more stick from fans than any of his team-mates.

Yes i did mate. Good memory. Look i love Nani but there should be no revisionism regarding his past. He was a very divisive figure in the stadium indeed. I remember him attracting plenty of booing because of his style of play. He's a creative winger, that relies heavily on dribbling and of course he won't put up risk/error free performances at that position. At the start of his career, Nani obviously didn't have this reputation and sometimes supporters would turn on him when he failed to do the right pass or played in a too individualistic manner (like Ronaldo mind you). Nani could have sensational matches (like against Spartak in the Champions League or the portuguese cup final against Belenenses that we won where he carried us) but he would also naturally have erratic performances and attract criticism. I was there at the stadium the majority of times, i clearly remember it.

When we sold him to United for that ammount supporters were pleased, except the residual Nani staunch supporters. The worst part came afterwards. After he left, our team clearly missed him. Ok there's the annoying errors but there's also the creativity, the desire to have the ball and run at players and his good shooting ability. Our team struggled without him. From people booing him, we moved to "without Nani, we have no one to create; why didn´t we keep him one more year; etc etc". My point is, in his first stint people just noticed his influence and appreciated his effort when he left.
In this new stint there can also be no revisionism. He's the best player on the league, been excellent in the big matches and putting up the numbers in the champions league. I'm staunch Sporting fan but i have to admit he's too good for the league and deserves another shot in the major leagues. Whether it's at United, that i don´t know.

 

[Massive Spanner]

I was just wondering, is there any precedent here?

Has any player gone out on loan, played a season of CL football then come back and been a success at his original club?

It's an unusual situation, complicated by this loan stint being at a club/league where he had already been a success before joining United. You'd like to think it would fill him full of confidence about coming back and taking the PL by storm but he might just think he's back where he belongs and should never have moved to England in the first place. Van Gaal might want him back at United but will Nani want to leave Portugal? Unless he's really keen to come back and play for United it's not going to take much for him to lose his desire and self-belief all over again and we're back to square one.

Well, that's the big issue, clearly he's ripping it up and adored there, he may not want to come back to a club that he was booed off for last season and has had a torrid time of at in the last few years. He might be happy to stay in Portugal, build up a rep again and then go off to Spain or Italy instead.

 

[Sly]

I've never seen a United player ever look unhappy when Nani scores so doubt that's a concern.

Was a very strange reaction from the Sporting player and not something I would expect at United. It's obviously fuelled by more than just that one incident, though, and shows that it's team mates as well as fans and managers who find Nani a frustrating player. And this is in season where his performances are getting rave reviews.

Look lets just stop this nonsense about this supposed incident. Nani is loved by his teammates and manager. Players look up to him because of his achievements and experience. Because he came from the academy and is one of them (the vast majority of our team comes from our youth ranks). He's always getting praised because of his influence. The results are proving it with a good Champions League campaign and by the elimination of Porto away in the portuguese cup. If we are to criticize anyone, it's the player who had the reaction, Slimani. A big douche who tried to ditch us in the summer after we rescued him from the Algerian league just because he had a good World Cup with Algeria. He's the one who's selfish and individualistic. It has nothing to do with Nani. I know what i'm talking about so let´s stop these english type tabloid rumours before it gets going.

 

[Sly]

Well, that's the big issue, clearly he's ripping it up and adored there, he may not want to come back to a club that he was booed off for last season and has had a torrid time of at in the last few years. He might be happy to stay in Portugal, build up a rep again and then go off to Spain or Italy instead.

I have explained this point. We only got Nani because of the special circunstancies of the Rojo deal and the timing with all the leagues having started already. The fact that we are his boyhood club and qualified to the champions league also played a part but Nani is still a very ambitious player and he will leave in the summer. Just a question of knowning to what top club.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Yes i did mate. Good memory. Look i love Nani but there should be no revisionism regarding his past. He was a very divisive figure in the stadium indeed. I remember him attracting plenty of booing because of his style of play. He's a creative winger, that relies heavily on dribbling and of course he won't put up risk/error free performances at that position. At the start of his career, Nani obviously didn't have this reputation and sometimes supporters would turn on him when he failed to do the right pass or played in a too individualistic manner (like Ronaldo mind you). Nani could have sensational matches (like against Spartak in the Champions League or the portuguese cup final against Belenenses that we won where he carried us) but he would also naturally have erratic performances and attract criticism. I was there at the stadium the majority of times, i clearly remember it.

When we sold him to United for that ammount supporters were pleased, except the residual Nani staunch supporters. The worst part came afterwards. After he left, our team clearly missed him. Ok there's the annoying errors but there's also the creativity, the desire to have the ball and run at players and his good shooting ability. Our team struggled without him. From people booing him, we moved to "without Nani, we have no one to create; why didn´t we keep him one more year; etc etc". My point is, in his first stint people just noticed his influence and appreciated his effort when he left.
In this new stint there can also be no revisionism. He's the best player on the league, been excellent in the big matches and putting up the numbers in the champions league. I'm staunch Sporting fan but i have to admit he's too good for the league and deserves another shot in the major leagues. Whether it's at United, that i don´t know.

Heh. Looks like this is a recurring theme in his career!

 

[Massive Spanner]

Heh. Looks like this is a recurring theme in his career!

I doubt many will argue that moving him on was probably the right thing to do at the time, hindsight is always a wonderful thing. I think the main issue is the fact that it's a loan primarily done to fund getting another player, rather than a flat out decent fee.

Still, could pay off next summer as we probably would never have gotten a decent fee.

Personally I'm more relieved that it's Nani doing well and not Kagawa as his fans would've been (even more) intolerable!

 

[Sir A1ex]

I doubt many will argue that moving him on was probably the right thing to do at the time, hindsight is always a wonderful thing.

I don't think it's 100% hindsight. There are plenty of us who always wanted Nani to be given a chance under LVG, and were disappointed to see him go at the time. I'd admit I'm still a little surprised by quite how well he's doing though!

 

[Massive Spanner]

I don't think it's 100% hindsight. There are plenty of us who always wanted Nani to be given a chance under LVG, and were disappointed to see him go at the time. I'd admit I'm still a little surprised by quite how well he's doing though!

I always knew he'd be immense in Portugal, no offense to the league but he's a level above and as Sly has said on numerous times, comfortably the best player in it.

Obviously I was disappointed as I'm a big Nani fan but at the same time it almost felt like we were never going to see the best of him here again and moving on was the right thing for his career, because it largely stagnated in recent years.

 

[arthurka]

Anyone think Nani isn't a LvG type of player? by that what I mean is, he likes his teams to play quite mechanically, with simple but effective passing, mechanical in how a team as a whole should function and move forward? rather than allow exceptional deviation even for the most talented of players?

After games he's always talking of players taking the wrong option.. making the wrong choices.. etc?
Doesn't that effectively conflict with Nani's Boom or Bust unorthodox style?

Robben was his player so...

 

[Trizy]

I've went from saying the ship had sailed after a couple of good performances to being really thinking about his return, at the end of the day he is still our player so won't cost anything, if he was putting in these performances and he wasn't our players he'd be listed in the transfer thread about how we should go for him. If we're serious about the counter attack approach in big games he is perfect for it.

 

[Massive Spanner]

I've went from saying the ship had sailed after a couple of good performances to being really thinking about his return, at the end of the day he is still our player so won't cost anything, if he was putting in these performances and he wasn't our players he'd be listed in the transfer thread about how we should go for him. If we're serious about the counter attack approach in big games he is perfect for it.

If reports are to believed, he will cost money to bring back early, actually.

 

[Trizy]

If reports are to believed, he will cost money to bring back early, actually.

I meant next season, if its a full season long loan we'll have to pay the remainder of his season wages to get him back in January. (Which is strange because we're paying his wages anyway)

 

[Black Adder]

His positive arrogance is back, which can be seen from yesterdays goal

If he continues like this then there's nothing wrong in bringing him back, that's if LVG rates him high enough.

 

[Tarrou]

When his confidence is this high he beats players so easily. We should just loan him to Portugal every season and get him back in January for the run-in.

 

[Brightonian]

His positive arrogance is back, which can be seen from yesterdays goal

If he continues like this then there's nothing wrong in bringing him back, that's if LVG rates him high enough.

Yesterday's goal would not have been possible against a Premier League team. No PL side would let you wander around in the penalty area for ten seconds unchallenged before shooting.

Which sums up the entire issue perfectly. Yes, he's doing great there, but only because the issues which caused him to so often struggle here have been removed. He's in a team where he doesn't have to worry about being dropped and can be the star attacker. Although Maribor was a CL game, he's playing a generally low quality of opposition in the league. And he's out from under the PL/Manchester United spotlight which destroyed his confidence, and back amongst family and people who speak his language.

I'm not saying we shouldn't give him another try here based on his form there, but his new-found form has to be seen in context. Remove that context and it's fairly probable we'll see the same collapse of confidence and form that has happened to him again and again at United.

 

[Black Adder]

Yesterday's goal would not have been possible against a Premier League team. No PL side would let you wander around in the penalty area for ten seconds unchallenged before shooting.

Which sums up the entire issue perfectly. Yes, he's doing great there, but only because the issues which caused him to so often struggle here have been removed. He's in a team where he doesn't have to worry about being dropped and can be the star attacker. Although Maribor was a CL game, he's playing a generally low quality of opposition in the league. And he's out from under the PL/Manchester United spotlight which destroyed his confidence, and back amongst family and people who speak his language.

I'm not saying we shouldn't give him another try here based on his form there, but his new-found form has to be seen in context. Remove that context and it's fairly probable we'll see the same collapse of confidence and form that has happened to him again and again at United.

I know all that, but with us paying his wages then let's try him before he's loaned again (don't see who would buy him unless he agrees on lesser wage).
He's still better than Young or Januzaj, why don't take a gamble and give him chance to prove himself at United again.
But tbf I think LVG doesn't rate him enough to bring him back.

 

[Brightonian]

I know all that, but with us paying his wages then let's try him before he's loaned again (don't see who would buy him unless he agrees on lesser wage).
He's still better than Young or Januzaj, why don't take a gamble and give him chance to prove himself at Ujited again.
But tbf I think LVG doesn't rate him enough to bring him back.

Is he? Not when they were both playing at the same club in the same circumstances; Januzaj was incredible last season, and Nani unstintingly awful.

But yeah, we should probably at least give him a try. If we do sell, we could probably earn decent fee for him. Best player in the Primeira Liga, 28 years old, experienced Champions League player (and winner)... that could translate to a good £20m from the right team.

 

[Black Adder]

Is he? Not when they were both playing at the same club in the same circumstances; Januzaj was incredible last season, and Nani unstintingly awful.

But yeah, we should probably at least give him a try. If we do sell, we could probably earn decent fee for him. Best player in the Primeira Liga, 28 years old, experienced Champions League player (and winner)... that could translate to a good £20m from the right team.

Januzaj is still far far far away from finished product, there are flaws in his game which he'll overcome with time but at the present moment I think Nani is better player which he shows for both club and the country.

But with proper development Januzaj could go on and emulate Nani, who's more mentaly fragile which cost him even better career IMO.

If we get anything around £20m I would be delighted, but when United sells it's rarely for profit, more to make room for someone else so think we would accept half of that just to free his wages and place in the squad.

Still it's good to see him doing alright, he had his moments in United shirt that shouldn't be forgotten, no matter what's the outcome of his and United story.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

I think Nani's definitely better than Januzaj, right now anyway.

A better winger than Ashley Young, definitely, but his versatility means it made more sense to hold onto him and let Nani go (e.g. his very impressive performance at wing back against Arsenal)

 

[Crackers]

I think Nani's definitely better than Januzaj, right now anyway.

A better winger than Ashley Young, definitely, but his versatility means it made more sense to hold onto him and let Nani go (e.g. his very impressive performance at wing back against Arsenal)

A few people have suggested letting him come back for just the second half of the season. One last chance and all that. He's on fire, can inject some needed pace and hopefully LVG feels he can use if. If not, he's got to be sold.
No real risk in bringing him back for 6 months more to see how he does when on form.

 

[sullydnl]

A superb player and proving it once again. All he needed was a run in the side (shock horror!) and unfortunately we decided watching Valencia trying to kill opposing full backs and passing back to the right back was a much better alternative.

Valencia and Young are cover for our fullbacks, I'd imagine that's why they were kept. Which is fair enough really.

 

[sullydnl]

A few people have suggested letting him come back for just the second half of the season. One last chance and all that. He's on fire, can inject some needed pace and hopefully LVG feels he can use if. If not, he's got to be sold.
No real risk in bringing him back for 6 months more to see how he does when on form.

Would cost us money to do so though, wouldn't it? We'd presumably be breaking our loan agreement?

I could see a fair few positives in bringing Nani back for the rest of the season but if it's actually going to cost us money then we might as well just sign a new winger (if one is available).

 

[Walrus]

Giving Nani a year to get his confidence back when we have very few games to play may turn out to be a stroke of genius.

I said the same about other fringe players like Hernandez, Welbeck and Kagawa - that we should loan them out, let them find their form and come back next year when we need them (due to increased matches from (hopefully) CL) and have an impact.

Those saying he may not be an LVG-type player - look at how LVG utilised Robben during the World Cup. Nani isnt a disimilar sort of player to Robben and could easily become that player for us. He could reach the sort of level that Robben has as well, I would wager.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

A few people have suggested letting him come back for just the second half of the season. One last chance and all that. He's on fire, can inject some needed pace and hopefully LVG feels he can use if. If not, he's got to be sold.
No real risk in bringing him back for 6 months more to see how he does when on form.

Yeah, I'd be fine with that.

Not sure it's an option though.