In some ways, Nani was a carbon copy of Cristiano Ronaldo. In many other ways, he wasn't. Upon Ronaldo's departure from Manchester United in 2009, the opportunity to step out of his former teammate's shadow was presented to the winger, but he failed to replicate the goal-scoring heroics of his fellow Portuguese. Yet the similarities were there. Both played in the same position and both were massive prima donnas. Each had a touch for the eccentric, with Nani executing an overblown acrobatic celebration on the rare instance he scored a goal but, more often than not, looking completely disinterested during a relatively mediocre seven-season stay at the Theatre of Dreams. Off the field, the midfielder had a reputation of being hard to work with. When it became apparent that things weren't working out back in 2012, United tried to offload the flop to Zenit St Petersburg, but Nani threw a strop - and a spanner in the works - be deliberately pricing himself out of his proposed £25 million move to Russia by making over-the-top wage demands, before reportedly threatening to run down his contract at Old Trafford and leave for free. He ended up staying at United for another two years, though the club have finally washed their hands of the pouting Portugal international with Nani returning to former club Sporting Lisbon on loan as part of the deal that saw defender Marcos Rojo head in the opposite direction earlier this month. And about time, too.
Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.
