Manchester United will return to being ‘one of the best teams in the Premier League,’ says former star Nani

By Patrick Snell, CNN

(CNN) — Former Manchester United and Portugal winger Luís Nani has an encouraging message of hope for the Red Devils’ beleaguered fans: Things are about to get a whole lot better.

United recently endured its worst ever finish to a Premier League season and already in this campaign, Ruben Amorim’s men have suffered a humiliating League Cup defeat to fourth-division Grimsby Town despite the acquisition of expensive new forwards Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Šeško.

And now since that loss, young Belgian goalkeeper Senne Lammens has been added to the squad.

“Everyone is expecting the new players to shine, so the stress doesn’t help,” Nani, a four-time Premier League winner with United, told CNN Sports ahead of this weekend’s Manchester derby.

“I believe, in a few games more, everything will settle, and we’ll get the normal winning our games, really compete and be one of the best teams in the Premier League. We know we are one of the best clubs in the world, and we want to be there but what I can tell you for the moment, the expectation is so high,” he added.

The club’s current plight is a far cry from the Alex Ferguson glory days when United won a record 13 Premier League titles and was a two-time Champions League winner.

A key member of that all-conquering history was flying winger Nani – a generational talent who was part of the Red Devils team that won the Champions League in 2008, and was inducted into Liga Portugal’s Hall of Fame earlier this week.

A former international teammate of Amorim, Nani – who scored over 40 goals during his time in the Premier League – is well qualified to assess his compatriot’s impact on United so far.

“He’s a great person, great coach. He’s young and obviously needs to experience much more in the Premier League. The Premier League is not easy for any coach. But we know the passion from the fans and the time is making his life even worse, giving him so much stress, so much pressure to deliver it,” Nani said.

“But I’m really confident in him. The results will come out and Man United will be a team who will be at the top of the table fighting for the usual title.”

2011 was a year to remember for Nani, especially when it came to scoring against rival Manchester City – netting twice against the Citizens in a Community Shield victory. Then in a later Premier League match, after scoring the opening goal of the game, he produced the cross for Wayne Rooney to score one of the most famous and iconic goals in the competition’s history: an astonishing overhead bicycle kick that settled the derby 2-1 in United’s favor.

The two teams face each other again at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

“Playing in the derby is the most beautiful experience you can have in the Premier League, and especially when it’s United against City. It’s really nice, the team who wins the game, the next day, they can walk free in the city. And then the colors of the team will be out, and the others will sit at home. They will not come out,” Nani reflected.

“I think Man United have a big opportunity to perform well, win the game, and get the confidence for the rest of the season because I think it will motivate all the fans, all the players. Everyone around the club will be ready for the next challenge,” he added.

As far as this season’s title race is concerned, Nani is already ruling out City.

“They’re a very consistent team, but this season, they didn’t start very well,” he said. “And last season, they didn’t play well. They lost the title as well. So, I don’t see them winning the title, but it’s always a team who will be there to compete and then make things difficult for any team on top of the table.”

In addition to his United successes, Nani made history with the Portuguese national team becoming a European champion at EURO 2016; he would go on to make over 100 appearances for his nation.

Nani was an exciting, skillful winger, and in the early part of his career in England, a one-time housemate of storied compatriot Cristiano Ronaldo.

“For me, it’s an honor today to be able to say I played on the side of the best players in the world,” said the now-38-year-old. “We experienced the best youth together in Man United. We were so young, and we had everything in our hands. Nice house, nice cars. We have the swimming pool. We have the tennis court to enjoy ourselves after our sessions at United. So, I think it was a great privilege to be part of those memories.”

Looking back

But the trappings of Nani’s hard-earned success are a far cry from a difficult and challenging childhood in Amadora, a few miles outside of Lisbon. Despite having no food to eat on certain days, Nani nevertheless describes his childhood as a happy one.

“Even with all the difficulties, having no food, not having clothes to dress in every single day – I had to sometimes wear clothes with holes in my jeans and shirts and my shoes – but even with all that, I was happy because I remember the only thing I wanted to do was to play football on the streets with my friends,” said Nani.

“Me and my friends, we always challenge ourselves. The way we were looking for food, we would jump inside the garden of other neighbors. We would take an orange or any other type of fruit they had there. And that was our way to eat.”

In an emotional video, Nani announced his retirement from soccer in 2024 following a decorated career that spanned two decades, including spells in his homeland, Spain, Turkey, Italy, Australia and the US. Nani’s decision to call time on his playing days was taken in part due to the passing of his father and a desire to spend more time with family.

He now has a renewed purpose in life empowering young, aspiring players at the Nani Football Academy, which opened late last year in his homeland.

“I always tell them to trust in themselves and never give up. Try always to do your best in anything you’re doing,” said Nani. “In my academy, that’s just football and I try to teach them everything that I passed through my youth.

“And I give some examples of my life because I can see a lot of kids, the mentality side is not so strong because they don’t have the same difficulties we had in the past. So, I try to create different difficulties for them. And then I use the same examples I had in the past and I motivate them.

“It’s like when they are there, they’re learning how to survive in this world, how to behave, how to be a good person but, at the same time, a strong person, strong mentality. To be prepared for this world – that’s the basis of our environment.”

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