Turks Delighted! 9 Jul 2015 20:14

By Frank Mead, Editor

With the Summer transfer window well and truly open, after a quiet first week, Manchester United seem to have opened both the entrance and exit doors.

Portuguese forward Nani has already signed for Turkish giants Fenerbahçe, and Dutch striker Robin van Persie is to reportedly have a medical ahead with the same club, ahead of his proposed move there. With the Turkish Superliga some distance behind the Premier League in terms of intensity, and quality, you would back both players to become a huge success there, with the added bonus of almost guaranteed Champions League participation every season. 

In fairness, we got what we wanted from van Persie, and he got what he wanted from us. He wanted to win the Premier League, and if he was leaving Arsenal, only United and City were realistic destinations for him to achieve this. We knew we were signing him at his absolute peak, and when you consider that he was the main reason that we wrested the Premier League title back from City in 2013, I would say he was worth every penny. It was a move that suited both parties. A marriage of convenience.

Arsenal fans would probably tell you that he would have won the title by now if he had stayed at the Emirates – I can’t see it myself. They have never really struggled to score goals, with or without RVP, but one thing Arsene Wenger has struggled (or refuses) to do is to see the areas of his side that need strengthening. They have addressed the goalkeeping problem (they haven’t had a top class keeper since David Seaman) by signing Petr Cech, but they still need reinforcements at the back, and they have lacked a world class anchorman since Patrick Vieira left ten years ago. They are awash with creative midfielders, but the problem for them over the last decade has been that they don’t know how to win ugly when it’s needed most – something all Premier League winning sides know how to do. 

RVP hasn’t looked happy since Fergie retired. When that happened, his whole body language seemed to change. Apparently, when David Moyes came in, the specialised training regime devised to keep RVP on the pitch and out of the treatment room was discarded – a move which was rewarded by van Persie missing approximately a third of the season, having barely missed a game the previous two seasons. But what also didn’t probably help was that United went from having a totally winning mentality under Ferguson, to being a side that wanted to “contain” Newcastle at Old Trafford. 

When Louis van Gaal came in, it was widely expected that playing under his compatriot would revitalise him, especially given how he performed against Spain and Brazil at the World Cup. If anything, van Persie seemed to go backwards, some believe this is because he made Rooney captain, rather than him. Maybe a parting of the ways is exactly what is needed for him to start enjoying his football again. 

A lot of people have referred to Robin van Perise as Ferguson’s “leaving present to himself”. Well £24million looks like an absolute bargain when you consider the moments it gave us. Given his age at the time we signed him, we knew it wasn’t going to be a long term investment. 

By comparison, Nani has to be one of the most frustrating players ever to wear the Red of United. His talent is there for all to see, a fact acknowledged in a tweet by Rio Ferdinand earlier this week. You could watch a YouTube video and think you were looking at one of the greatest players you’ve ever seen, judging by what he could do with the ball. Two great feet, pace to burn and an absolute rocket of a shot, usually followed by an acrobatic flip. In addition, his goals and assists record stands up to any inspection – another example of why statistics only tell you half the story.

It strikes me, however, that Nani was never quite able to step out of the shadow of Cristiano Ronaldo. It looked like he was always trying to emulate him and, however talented he may be, very few players that have ever played the game get to that level. Another area that always let him down was his decision making. This aspect of his game initially hindered Ronaldo as well, but after his first couple of seasons, he learned when to shoot, when to pass and when to hold onto it – something that seems to have continued to escape Nani. Maybe he didn’t practice this as much as Ronaldo.

His great spells for the team all seemed to come in streaks rather than consistently. When he was on form, United fans would be treated to a veritable portfolio of skills, tricks and wizardry. When he wasn’t feeling it, however, we might as well have been playing with ten men. As with Anderson, you always got the feeling there was more in the locker. But United reached three Champions League Final’s in the time Nani was at the club – he didn’t start a single one of them. This was understandable in 2008, but he didn’t even get on the pitch against Barcelona the following year. He had a brief cameo from the bench two years later, but with the talent this lad possessed, by this time he should have been one of the first names on the team sheet by then.

There is no way either player can be labelled a failure at United. The good moments Nani enjoyed, such as the 30 yard strike against Tottenham, and the magical trickery against Arsenal at the Emirates in 2010, in addition to the medals he collected, will ensure he is never forgotten by the majority of Reds. As for van Persie, he can look back and say he almost single handedly won us title number 20 in Sir Alex Ferguson’s last season as manager – and some of the goals he scored in the process were just ridiculous.

Both players were brought in for big money, and Fenerbahçe will end up paying a pittance by comparison. You cant exactly say either was a waste of money, given their contribution, and I hope these moves revitalise the careers of both men.

But in both cases, you get the feeling they could have done even more.