Sometimes a player can have all the talent in the world but if he doesn’t work hard to fulfil that talent then he can soon become useless to all those around him.

Nani used to revel in comparisons people used to make about him and Cristiano Ronaldo. Both were young wing wizards plucked by Sir Alex Ferguson from Sporting Lisbon.

Ronaldo was the first to arrive back in 2003 and was a bit of a show-pony at the beginning. But he would work extremely hard to become one of the worlds great players and helped Manchester United to gain glory both domestically and in Europe. In 2009, Ronaldo would depart Old Trafford for Real Madrid in a (then) world record £80m deal.

Nani would join the ‘Red Devils’ in 2007 and was heralded as the next big thing. Like Cristiano before him he was extremely skilful, pacey and very flashy. His backflip celebration was typical of his flashy attention seeking behaviour. But unlike Ronaldo, Nani would never reach his full potential at United nor would he become a fan favourite with the United faithful. He just didn’t seem to have the heart to actually work hard on his game and improve his all round ability.

Now after eight years at Old Trafford (interrupted by his season long loan back at Sporting last term) Nani is set to leave for Fenerbahce for a lowly £4.25m fee.

Simply put Nani was a project that just didn’t really work-out for Man United.

He did show glimpses that he could become the star turn that was predicted. During the 2010/11 and 2011/12 seasons, the winger was regularly used (playing eighty-nine times and grabbing twenty goals). He was having a positive influence on the team and helped them to the league title in 2011.

But in the end the Portuguese international could never reach that elite level. Playing consistently well and being effective (especially against the better sides) eluded the twenty-eight year old for much of his career at United.

As I’ve already said, there can be no doubt that Nani has some fine qualities and a lot natural born talent. But Man United cannot afford to wait indefinitely for the wideman to finally get his head right and work hard to prove himself as the quality player Sir Alex though he was buying back in the last decade.

He simply didn’t work hard enough for reach his full potential at Manchester United and will now head to Turkey to try and resurrect his career in Istanbul.

That gives the Man United fans a chance to thank Nani for all he did at the club and wish him all the best. Then they can breathe a sigh of relief as the Ronaldo wannabe will no longer tease them with the possibility of great things before turning back into a dud who seems to be in a near constant slump!

Posted on July 4th, 2015 by scott
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