Rio Ferdinand names the £20m Sir Alex Ferguson signing who frustrated him at Man Utd

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Rio Ferdinand has admitted that Brazilian ace Anderson frustrated him during their time together at Manchester United.

Cast your minds back to the summer of 2007.

Sir Alex Ferguson was keen to strengthen a United side which had just won the Premier League title by six points ahead of Chelsea.

Ferguson moved for two top talents in Portugal as Sporting winger Nani and Porto playmaker Anderson arrived.

Anderson failed to live up to the hype

Porto announced that Anderson had moved for around €30million, which was in the region of £20million at the time.

Excitement was high despite Anderson spending just 18 months in Portugal and being a fairly raw talent.

Anderson only played 25 times for Porto but had shown enormous ability and potential, sparking Ferguson’s interest upon recommendation from Carlos Quieroz.

Whilst Nani became something of a cult hero at Old Trafford, Anderson felt like a case of unfulfilled potential.

We saw the Brazilian’s talent in fits and starts, but he never really seemed to apply himself well enough.

Former United coach Mick Clegg told The Athletic last year that Anderson could have been a top player but he was a ‘party animal’.

Clegg added that Anderson ‘didn’t keep fit’ and didn’t put in the work required to be a top United star – something Rio Ferdinand seemingly backs up.

Rio Ferdinand comments on Anderson at Manchester United

Speaking on FIVE, Ferdinand picked out Anderson as a player who really frustrated him during his time at United.

Ferdinand noted that Anderson won the Golden Boy award, though that actually came with United rather than at Porto.

Ferdinand branded Anderson ‘unreal’ in terms of his talent but he didn’t apply himself enough, leaving Ferdinand and others at United frustrated.

Capable of dominating against the likes of Steven Gerrard and Cesc Fabregas, Anderson just couldn’t do it throughout his career and left United in 2015.

“Anderson was a player that used to frustrate me sometimes,” said Ferdinand. “This kid won the Golden Boy, that everyone goes mad about now, he won it when he was at Porto, best young player in Europe. The kid was unreal talent-wise but we have a WhatsApp group we always talk about, where he gets hammered. We always appreciate his ability but we’re all frustrated that he didn’t probably apply himself like he could have, because if he did, he might not have got injured as much as he got.”

“He’s gone to Anfield and got a song about him doing Steven Gerrard, he’s gone to Arsenal and got a song about doing Cesc Fabregas, two of the best midfielders in the country at the time, and he went and bossed both of them in a short space of time. But it’s alright bossing them over one game, you want to see that over a career – and that’s the problem,” he added.

Now 35, Anderson’s career has been done for three years now.

Anderson returned to Brazil with Internacional and Coritiba before heading to Turkey in 2018, joining Adana Demirspor.

The midfielder only managed eight caps for Brazil and none beyond 2008, which was a terribly low tally for a player who could have been a superstar.

Anderson only managed 74 club appearances after leaving United and he will sadly be remember more for his unfulfilled potential than for his actual ability.