“He came hot on the heels of Cristiano Ronaldo” - When Michael Owen made big claim on ex-Manchester United star compared to Portugal icon
Michael Owen believes that former Manchester United star Nani could have reached Cristiano Ronaldo's level. The Englishman stated that the Portuguese winger had the ability to do well in his career but did not reach his potential.
Speaking to Daily Star, Owen claimed that Nani turned out to be a journeyman because he did not have the mentality of a player like Ronaldo. He added that the injuries were also an issue for the Portuguese star as knocks kept him out of action for weeks. He said:
"I think you go through life meeting people and you think 'Oh, he'll do well in life, she'll do well in life' and whatever. There's loads of players that were absolutely so talented and then probably didn't ever (reach their potential). And there were lots of players you think might be a bit of a journeyman, and all of a sudden they reach the absolute top because they're just like mentally monsters."
"And you know of players that were exceptionally talented and probably could have done even more," Owen added. "Someone like Nani at Manchester United. You talk to players and he came hot on the heels of Cristiano Ronaldo – possibly felt a little bit in his shadow. But the ability of that kid… He would go and get man of the match three or four weeks on the spin, and then he'd have a little knock or something would go against him and his confidence could be shot and you wouldn't see him for a couple of months type of thing. But he had had just tons of ability."
Michael Owen played 25 matches with Nani at Manchester United and the two combined for four goals. The Englishman never played with Cristiano Ronaldo, though the two players played for Real Madrid and Manchester United, but never at the same time.
Nani never felt that he was in Cristiano Ronaldo's shadow at Manchester United
Nani spoke to Tribuna Expresso and claimed that he never felt like he was in the shadows of Cristiano Ronaldo, Ryan Giggs, and Wayne Rooney at Manchester United. He stated that they were a team and nobody felt like they were above the other in the dressing room or the pitch.
He said:
"There were no shadows at that time. We had a fantastic team. I played with Ronaldo lots of times as a starter. Our team had two or three playing styles and when it came to facing certain teams it was Nani and Ronaldo, while others were Ronaldo with Rooney. I was fortunate that when I came to Manchester, I played a lot of games in my first two years there and I was one of the most used players in the Champions League. So I have no reason to complain."
Nani played 129 matches with Cristiano Ronaldo for club and country. The two combined for 14 goals – including the goal against Wales in the semi-final of EURO 2016, the tournament they went on to win.