Former Manchester United star Nani has been interviewed by Portuguese outlet A Bola today. The big subject of the interview was his relationship with Sporting star Bruno Fernandes.
During their time at the Lisbon side, there were rumours saying they weren’t exactly best friends, and their beef divided the squad between two grupos.
Speaking to A Bola, Nani has denied there was any problems between them, saying it has all been made up by the press.
“If there were groups… I never saw them. Never had a group, whenever I spoke and said what I had to say was in front of everyone. And what I said was always to motivate the team, in an attempt to do, to play the best possible game. I always pushed for everyone to get through the difficult phase together and I think everyone accepted and gave a favorable opinion to what I said,” Nani told A Bola.
“The only problem Bruno Fernandes can complain about me is that I always told him that he, because of his quality, had to shoot better than he was shooting in some games. If he stopped focusing on other things and focused on looking at the ball, he would score many more important goals. And coincidentally, in the next game after I told him that, I made a pass for him and he easily put the ball in the goal, scored a great goal in the match of the Portuguese Cup against Benfica. I don’t know if you saw how we celebrated the goal I got to his feet and just said, ‘Do you see I was right?’
“I often said to him, ‘You with the strength you have, if you train a little more you will explode and drive the English crazy’. England is where he will shine, it’s the league where the players get the ball in after every shot, there are spectacular goals.”
During his last spell at Sporting, Nani used to being team captain. After leaving for Orlando City, the armband was given to Bruno Fernandes, and he considers it to be a good choice.
“It was very well delivered. We kept talking, with me wishing him good luck before the games and him responding by thanking. When I left he thanked me for the tips I gave him while I was there. If this kind of news or rumours came out, it can only be from someone who is trying to burn people’s image. There are a lot of envious people, they can’t see good news about certain players and that frustrates others.”
