London - Nani is suffering on the fringes at Manchester United and needs more support from Sir Alex Ferguson to convince him he still has a future at Old Trafford.
That is the verdict of Braga coach Jose Peseiro, Ferguson’s opposite number in the Estadio Municipal de Braga on Wednesday night and the man who gave Nani his senior debut at Sporting Lisbon seven years ago.
United bought the Portugal winger for £17million in 2007 but Nani returned to his homeland on Tuesday looking increasingly likely to leave the club after failing to agree terms over a new contract and seeing his relationship with Ferguson turn sour.
Peseiro knows Nani better than most after Sporting plucked the player from poverty and turned him into a star, and the Braga boss believes his former charge will not be happy until he is playing again. ‘After Cristiano Ronaldo left Manchester, he had two or three fantastic seasons. Manchester depended on him,’ said Peseiro.
“At this moment it isn’t the same but Nani can improve. A player can only play at the maximum level when he’s happy.
“I know him. If he doesn’t play, it is not easy for him. He doesn’t feel well when he doesn’t play.
“I don’t know if the problem is that he doesn’t sign another contract, if the coach has less confidence in him or if he just doesn’t feel right.”
Peseiro believes Ferguson needs to show Nani more support to get the best out of him.
“All players have a different personality,” he added. “Some need an embrace and support, others don’t. The Portuguese, Brazilian and Spanish players need more emotional contact.
“Sir Alex Ferguson can’t speak differently to him than to the others, but I know some players need more. Nani needs more, I think.”
Ferguson arrived on the 26th anniversary of his appointment at Old Trafford knowing that victory will see United qualify for the knockout stages with two games to spare. However, after taking a shock two-goal lead at Old Trafford a fortnight ago, Braga will be no pushovers on their own patch. In beating Birmingham, Liverpool, Arsenal and Portsmouth in the last five years, the Portuguese have not conceded a single goal at home.
But Ferguson is already looking ahead to the teams he believes United will have to beat to land the Champions League crown this year.
“We’ll need to perform at a really high level,” he said on Tuesday night. “You can’t look past Real Madrid and Barcelona, that’s fair to say, and I do think Dortmund will be about the Champions League this year.
“Those three teams have outstanding chances and I hope we can join them because we have a good squad.”
United left Paul Scholes and Darren Fletcher in Manchester but Ferguson confirmed that Chris Smalling will be in the squad for the first time this season.
Daily Mail