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Today he plays for Turkish side Fenerbaçe, but back in the day Nani was set to become Cristiano Ronaldo's heir with Manchester United. Something happened along the way that prevented him from reaching his apparently full potential. For Nani, that was Louis Van Gaal's arrival, which for him it was a way of blocking his progression into the super star he believes he could've been.
He spoke to The Sunday Times and said: “He didn’t use me a lot in pre-season. I was the player who had the least time in all the games and I was feeling, ‘This coach doesn’t count on me’. He and his assistant were shouting at players like we were kids, like 18-year-olds. And I think, ‘This is not the way to treat us because I am professional, I am training every day, I’m doing nothing wrong, I’m putting quality in the training’.”
Nani is convinced that he will return to English football sooner rather than later, where he thinks he still has a lot to give: “I have unfinished business in England. I would like to have another opportunity in one of these best leagues because when you are on the high level all the people consider at a higher level what you did. Now, for example, if I do something here, or I do something in Portugal, they will say ‘Yes, it’s in Portugal. OK, it’s in Turkey.’"
But in all reality, Nani was never really Cristiano Ronaldo's heir. It was clear from the beginning of his career, that he would only get as far as he really did and he had not much more to give really as a player. We may be wrong, but Louis Van Gaal was right to send him away because he never really did help Manchester United achieve the grand things Ronaldo did.
Photo credit: Getty Images
