Did Nani deserve his five-year contract extension at Manchester United?

Nani

On 5th September 2013, Manchester United announced that Portuguese winger Luis Nani, whose contract was set to expire next summer, had signed a new 5-year contract with the club.

United manager David Moyes was very happy with the Portugese winger’s willingness to stay at Manchester United: “I’m really pleased Nani has re-signed for the next five years. He has great ability and experience beyond his 26 years. I’ve been impressed with his approach to training and look forward to working with him in the coming seasons.”

When he signed the new deal, Nani said, “Playing at United has been a fantastic experience for me. When I came to the club, I never imagined the success we have enjoyed. Training every day with top players who want to win trophies every year is a great motivation to me. I’m very happy that the new manager has shown this faith in me and I’m looking forward to helping the team compete for more honours this season.”

Clearly the club are under the impression that giving Nani a new long-term deal is good business. The player himself is more than happy to stay on. However, have United done the right thing by handing him a contract extension?

During the early parts of his career, Nani was often compared to his compatriot Cristiano Ronaldo. It’s not hard to understand why. Both are speedy wingers who like taking on and dribbling around players, both always seem to have a few tricks up their sleeves. Both are products of Sporting Clube de Portugal’s youth academy. However, that’s about as far as the comparisons go between the two.

While Ronaldo has gone on to establish himself as one of the best, if not the best, players in his generation, Nani has failed to live up to the expectations surrounding him. Nani was expected to blossom into a world-beater after Ronaldo left United. And while he is still a match-winner in his own right, it’s safe to say that he never quite managed to reach his best as a player.

One of Nani’s biggest weaknesses is his inconsistency. When he’s on form, he can single-handedly win matches. However, the days when he is on form are few and far between. He has one good game and then disappears for the next few games.

Inconsistency can be forgiven when a player is young, inexperienced and raw. But he is now 26 and has been at United for six seasons. He’s no longer the raw player he was when he first came to England.

Aside from the fact that his form regularly fluctuates from world-class to non-league, he’s not the best defensively. He doesn’t track back on a regular basis and is easily beaten in the air.

All in all, I’d say it’s a slightly strange decision to give the Portuguese winger a new long-term contract. United have Wilfried Zaha in their ranks and while it’s hard to say if he’s better than Nani at the moment, it would most certainly make more sense to play him because he still has room to improve.

Nani has already reached his peak and it certainly doesn’t seem like he will get any better any time soon. United fans will be hoping this particular decision doesn’t backfire on them.