If Cristiano Ronaldo was Manchester United and Portugal’s ‘Batman’, then former teammate Nani is his ‘Robin’.
Nani signed for Manchester United in 2007, hoping to learn in Cristiano Ronaldo‘s shadow and succeed as his replacement.
The plan worked for a little while. Nani played a bit-part role to win the Champions League in his first season, and went on to win three Premier League title after Ronaldo left, in addition to the two he won alongside him.
The 2010/11 season was Nani’s best, but after that he began to struggle for consistency and while the older players like Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand had age as an excuse for their slide-off under David Moyes, the same reason could not be attributed to the winger.
Nani is still playing
While Cristiano Ronaldo is still playing for Portugal at 39, the last of Nani’s 112 international caps came back in 2017.
Nani is still playing, recently enjoying spells with Venezia in Italy, Melbourne Victory in Australia, and currently Adana Demirspor in Turkey.
He has made 31 appearances this season, although has a modest goal return of only three.
Still, while former teammates are long retired, Nani is following the Cristiano Ronaldo path of keeping his playing career going as long as possible, and he clearly picked up a thing or two from his former club and country colleague.
Nani is in incredible shape
The veteran winger shared an image on Instagram this week from his gym, showcasing his ripped, chiselled physique which could rival Cristiano Ronaldo. He certainly doesn’t look 37.
Nani’s message was ‘liked’ by Manchester United star Bruno Fernandes, along with Wayne Rooney and Antonio Valencia, his former teammates at Old Trafford.
Another, David de Gea, issued a one-word response, writing ‘Beast’, showing his admiration for Nani’s embodiment of peak fitness.
His football career may not be creating headlines any longer, and it has felt like he has been drifting for the past decade since leaving United under Louis van Gaal, but Nani has kept pushing on regardless.
He might even have a few more seasons left in him yet, it certainly doesn’t look like he is in any hurry to retire.
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