Nani

[Leftback99]

I just don´t get the hate some posters on this forum has for Nani.

Great player, improved after he left us and the nostalgic in me would love to see him back in United.

Once some people make their mind up on a player they'll never change their mind and refuse to admit they might have been wrong.

I didn't rate him myself for a long time before his spell of being outstanding for us. One of LVGs first in a long line of terrible decisions not giving him a chance.

 

[Jerch]

I would love him back. I always rated him and I think selling him was one of the biggest mistakes LVG did.

 

[Aki_United]

Was great at Sporting when loaned out. Did not understand why we loaned him and the sold him although he was good. Where is the logic in that? And then this deal with cash + Rojo, what was LvG thinking, he deserved a chance at that moment. Was very pissed off and I am still. Is one of my favourite players and is doing well for Portugal also. Every time I watch them he is better than Ronnie for the national team, ok not always but very often. Can't see him coming back, he will go to Inter imo. There is a main player. Good luck Nani.

 

[VorZakone]

Was great at Sporting when loaned out. Did not understand why we loaned him and the sold him although he was good. Where is the logic in that? And then this deal with cash + Rojo, what was LvG thinking, he deserved a chance at that moment. Was very pissed off and I am still. Is one of my favourite players and is doing well for Portugal also. Every time I watch them he is better than Ronnie for the national team, ok not always but very often. Can't see him coming back, he will go to Inter imo. There is a main player. Good luck Nani.

He was? I didn't follow his time there but do recall some comments about him being a bit underwhelming at Sporting.

 

[Sunny Jim]

yeah sure

Yes, it was myth. He was well disciplined in this regard and had good work ethic.

 

[DarkXaero]

He was? I didn't follow his time there but do recall some comments about him being a bit underwhelming at Sporting.

Nah, Sly kept raving about him during his loan spell.

 

[mungy]

Is one of my favourite players and is doing well for Portugal also. Every time I watch them he is better than Ronnie for the national team

feckn hilarious. Pure comedy gold.

 

[Vanya]

Happy for him - he scored and Cakir hasn't sent him off yet.

That being said, don't want him back, it would be foolish.

 

[Antisocial]

I'm not fussed about bringing him back overall, but we do need someone on the right and if the fee is only £6m then sure, bring him back and hope he has developed some confidence and consistency at long last. Even if his wages are quite high then it should still be a cheap gamble overall.

 

[Ødegaard]

I just don´t get the hate some posters on this forum has for Nani.

Great player, improved after he left us and the nostalgic in me would love to see him back in United.

I don't hate Nani.
I don't want him back, and think selling him was the right decision for the club, and that the mistake was to not replace him properly.

 

[ti vu]

Some average/below average players move for bigger fee these days in PL. The quoted fee here is pretty cheap. Nani played for us, had good period for us, PL proven, so we can't do worse. Perhaps Nani is reaching Payet stage of career where he is to realize his full potential and now we have Portuguese men in management, he may find it easier?

Our attacking front is now worse than it was 2 seasons ago (a Di Maria on the back of his best season, Januzaj was good in Moyes' season, Falcao hype, hope for Rooney and RVP revival, Chicharito was Chicharito, Mata was productive near the end of Moyes' season...) where we sent him on loan, then sold him next season. Nani may not have a huge role in long term, but short term role is sound.

 

[Larseno]

Lingard isn't useless. He isn't world class that's all. He is a good outlet for us. He scored close to 6 goals for us even though he isn't an integral part of our attack. Nani in a vastly inferior league where he would be a major outlet scored 13. Not sure nani would be all that useful for us.

Nani was like Memphis defensively. Not sure how anyone can disagree with that

Learn how to read if you want to discuss. I NEVER said Lingard is useless. I said he is useless WITH BALL. Because everything he does that is good is without the ball. He is under average passer. He NEVER dribles. He has almost no crosses. He rarely plays one-twos. All hes talent is very good workethics, to cover space and attack the box without the ball.

And no, I dont agree with your comparing of Nani and Memphis. And I really disagree with you on Lingard not being a integral part of our attack. If winger and attacking mid isnt a "integral part" of our attack I dont know what is. You may think thats the truth and thats fine. Im not saying Im right and im not saying you are wrong. Im just saying I believe 100% in what Im saying. And then you come with "Not sure how anyone can disagree with that". And frankly I think thats a little disrespectful to others opinions. I also advice you to read what I actually write because I never said that Lingard as a player is useless. Im saying certain aspects of hes play is. Like Mata is not a good header.

 

[fellaini's barber]

Following this site all these years, i've noticed how foreign players get hit with labels(lazy,inconsistent, just shite etc) while the british ones ones are afforded a lot more leniency, which is natural as majority of users are Brits, but it gets too biased sometimes. Nani was a good player for us, had decent spells, great spells, and shit spells. He was the kind of player who needed to build confidence and need playing time to find rythm. Unfortunately such treatment is reserved for club legend Rooney, who could be shite for half a season but still get "played into form". I was not too keen on us keeping him either but some of the criticisms he gets on here are unnecessarily harsh.

Same thing with Chicha and Welbz, the former kept getting slaughtered on here despite consistently being more productive with lesser playing time than Welbeck everytime. This was stranger to me as I never saw anything about Welbz to suggest he was anything more than average, but then I come here to see people comparing him to the likes of Muller, making excuses for poor goal record(he has to be played in his favorite position, he'll be world class @ 29 etc), while Chicha apparently was only good at scoring goals and shite at everything else hence should be sold.
Then there was Rafa, who was labelled as reckless and a crock, despite being a better footballer and having a better injury record than Phil Jones, who most are still making excuses for(he's still young,will shake off his injuries like Smalling etc)

 

[dannyrhinos89]

If it's only 6 million as suggested then it's stupid to not go bring him back.

the Portuguese link with Mourinho could improve his game no end.

 

[United Pro]

If it's only 6 million as suggested then it's stupid to not go bring him back.

the Portuguese link with Mourinho could improve his game no end.

You think Nani will improve his game no end if he's managed by Mourinho? He's almost 30 and he will only decline from now on. Maybe he can learn some tactical skills. But as they say "you can't teach an old dog new tricks". I'd much rather use your logic and hope Mourinho will improve Memphis to no end so he reaches his potential.

 

[charlenefan]

That ship has sailed, thanks for the memories and enjoy Milan

 

[ti vu]

You think Nani will improve his game no end if he's managed by Mourinho? He's almost 30 and he will only decline from now on. Maybe he can learn some tactical skills. But as they say "you can't teach an old dog new tricks". I'd much rather use your logic and hope Mourinho will improve Memphis to no end so he reaches his potential.

Payet was inconsistent for years before he transformed into who he has been for these 2 seasons (?).

Depay' dribbling style is more of an forward than a ball carrier. Memphis enjoys the left side while Nani is known to favor the right wing more during his time with us. Our team severely lacks ast ball carriers. Martial, Shaw, Valencia are among the best we have. One is still recovering from injury, one has no end product as winger and not a natural right back. Next best in line is Rashford, who should be developed as forward, Januzaj who stagnated in development, Young who is a hit and miss and one trick pony, Rooney enough said... 6m is dirt cheap. That gives us an option and easy to depose when we find a worthy long term right winger.

 

[gav81]

Haha, I didn't know Rio had nicknamed Nani, "naan bread".

I also found a tribute Rio wrote to Nani when he went to Fenerbache: -

“Of all the players I’ve played with during my career, if I wanted someone to beat someone 1 vs 1 and it was do or die he would have been one of my first picks for sure. He can go either way, off either foot, tricky and lightening quick – a defenders nightmare!"​

Coming from a defender like Rio, I thought this might help anyone sitting on the fence to make their mind up about Nani.

 

[MadDogg]

Nani was like Memphis defensively. Not sure how anyone can disagree with that

Nani was far better than Memphis. He wasn't particularly good defensively, but he always got back and tried to help.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

He's almost 30 and he will only decline from now on.

What happened to 29-32 being pure peak, now it's like a player is dead at 30... mental.

Plenty of players still peak at that age, Zidane was 29 when he moved to Madrid. Scholesy's best years were 29-32. Lampard too & Xavi. Payet is 29 now and playing the best football of his career.

Can only conclude there must be a lot of young kids in here obsessed with age & thinking 30 is an old man.

 

[Distracted Steward]

This thread has stayed up pretty high for a while now! Anything behind it? Strong rumors/links or a pro v anti-Nani circlejerk?

 

[Oo0AahCantona]

I just love his game, inconsistencies or not, he's just a proper flair winger, something we have lacked for years.

 

[Beachryan]

Won't happen because we should never go backwards, but if you look around Europe at available players who can play RW, I'm not convinced there any proven better, and certainly not for 6m.

He also gave some great years to United, knows the club inside out and at 30 could be a bit of a role model to younger players. His work rate is excellent, anyone decrying his defending never watched him - he was always up and down the wing.

Yet another stick to beat LVG with.

From a footballing perspective, I literally can't think of a single thing that Lingard is better than Nani at. I guess lower wages. Tis it.

 

[Charlie Foley]

I thought he played very well tonight, looked really dangerous throughout.

To be honest my main trepidation to him signing is 'you never go back', if he'd never played for us and was available for 6 million I'd be more than happy to take the punt.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

To be honest my main trepidation to him signing is 'you never go back', if he'd never played for us and was available for 6 million I'd be more than happy to take the punt.

Going back worked alright with Sparky.

 

[Charlie Foley]

Going back worked alright with Sparky.

Funnily I actually posted that on another thread in this forum on the same topic before I forgot my own lesson!

 

[United Pro]

What happened to 29-32 being pure peak, now it's like a player is dead at 30... mental.

Plenty of players still peak at that age, Zidane was 29 when he moved to Madrid. Scholesy's best years were 29-32. Lampard too & Xavi. Payet is 29 now and playing the best football of his career.

Can only conclude there must be a lot of young kids in here obsessed with age & thinking 30 is an old man.

Firstly, when considering the peak form of footballer you have to separate by position, so comparing Nani to Scholes/Xavi/Lampard/Zidane is absurd as midfielders of that ilk can play for a lot longer at a high level. Payet is a better example in that he is a winger. The major difference is that Payet is very much a late bloomer where he's only reached this sort of level from his final season at Marseille 2 seasons back. Nani on the other hand was a fantastic young talent as a teenager from his time at Sporting and he peaked around 2011/2012, which is around 5 years back now. He has effectively been on the decline since. So in other words buying a near 30 year old Nani and expecting him to suddenly improve markedly is likely to end in disappointment.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Funnily I actually posted that on another thread in this forum on the same topic before I forgot my own lesson!

Sure Liverpool fans were pleased enough with Rush too, and I'd defo go back for Pique or Pogba

 

[stepic]

What happened to 29-32 being pure peak, now it's like a player is dead at 30... mental.

Plenty of players still peak at that age, Zidane was 29 when he moved to Madrid. Scholesy's best years were 29-32. Lampard too & Xavi. Payet is 29 now and playing the best football of his career.

Can only conclude there must be a lot of young kids in here obsessed with age & thinking 30 is an old man.

Yeah but Nani is no Zidane, Scholes, Lampard, Xavi and not even Payet. He's never been incredibly good and there's a good chance he's already peaked. And if he hasn't, well, he's not going to get much better. Better to bring in someone else younger who could potentially be great (ie Embolo or the like).

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Yeah but Nani is no Zidane, Scholes, Lampard, Xavi and not even Payet. He's never been incredibly good and there's a good chance he's already peaked. And if he hasn't, well, he's not going to get much better. Better to bring in someone else younger who could potentially be great (ie Embolo or the like).

Agreed.

 

[JustAFan]

This thread has stayed up pretty high for a while now! Anything behind it? Strong rumors/links or a pro v anti-Nani circlejerk?

No. Just the usual of United fans wanting us to buy back every single player we ever sold.

Funny thing is if we did buy him back the first time he launched so shots into the rafters or made some poor decisions the forum would be full of posts asking why we bought him back when he still does this stuff.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Won't happen because we should never go backwards, but if you look around Europe at available players who can play RW, I'm not convinced there any proven better, and certainly not for 6m.

He also gave some great years to United, knows the club inside out and at 30 could be a bit of a role model to younger players. His work rate is excellent, anyone decrying his defending never watched him - he was always up and down the wing.

Yet another stick to beat LVG with.

From a footballing perspective, I literally can't think of a single thing that Lingard is better than Nani at. I guess lower wages. Tis it.

Defensive discipline and closing down I imagine. But Nani wasn't terrible at that either. For me I'd take Nani anyday. I always liked the player. In form he was devastating. And even when not, his numbers were usually good as he was capable of producing good moments.

 

[Green_Red]

I don't think it's that black or white.

Man Utd is just not his lover and Nani is too good to ever stop until he gets enough

Id love to see him do a mock moonwalk or pull out a single sparkly glove as a goal celebration just for the pure craic of it

 

[maverickjesus]

I'd be ok with a cheeky £40m bid.

 

[Balerion]

Nostalgia is a powerful thing. Foolish, but powerful.
Did Nani become consistent finally? If he did, great, for a few bucks I wouldn't mind. But if he's at his peak (as someone here mentioned 29-32 being 'pure peak', whatever that means) and is still inconsistent as before, then what's the point? We already have Memphis. At least he has age on his side.

 

[Twigg]

What happened to 29-32 being pure peak, now it's like a player is dead at 30... mental.

Plenty of players still peak at that age, Zidane was 29 when he moved to Madrid. Scholesy's best years were 29-32. Lampard too & Xavi. Payet is 29 now and playing the best football of his career.

Can only conclude there must be a lot of young kids in here obsessed with age & thinking 30 is an old man.

That bugs me too. Players peak at different times, for example Rooney peaked at like 26, whereas Ibra has been playing at his peak for the last few years. There's no law in science that says players become shite after 30.

 

[Norris]

He's already off to Inter is he not ? So why discuss about this ? I would have liked to go after him considering his release clause was only 6.5m, but onto other targets now.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

That bugs me too. Players peak at different times, for example Rooney peaked at like 26, whereas Ibra has been playing at his peak for the last few years. There's no law in science that says players become shite after 30.

Plenty of sprinters have personal bests around that age and the football World has been littered with players who peaked between 28-32. Now we have this bizarre situation that if we're linked with a 28 year old then it's not good enough "cause it's only downhill from here".

Frustrating as feck.

 

[JB7]

Plenty of sprinters have personal bests around that age and the football World has been littered with players who peaked between 28-32. Now we have this bizarre situation that if we're linked with a 28 year old then it's not good enough "cause it's only downhill from here".

Frustrating as feck.

FIFA generation. This has literally happened since about FIFA 11 when any player you signed on Career Mode literally died on their arse once they hit 30.

 

[Earthquake]

FIFA generation. This has literally happened since about FIFA 11 when any player you signed on Career Mode literally died on their arse once they hit 30.

Or Football Manager, moment they hit 30 their attributes melt.