Galatasaray’s ‘bid’ for Nani – Insulting or reality?

Mercurial winger Nani’s future has long been cast in doubt, virtually since he came back from Euro 2012. After promising displays in that tournament, the Portuguese winger flattered to deceive and his season has been marred by a series of troublesome incidents: He was involved in a training ground bust-up where he allegedly struck Davide Petrucci; singled out for missing a penalty against

Galatasaray and supposedly costing United a Capital One tie against Chelsea. Aside from these blemishes, Nani was involved in a ‘will he, won’t he’ transfer debacle involving Zenit St Petersburg. His extortionate wage demands scuppered a big money move and this set the trend for a very underwhelming season, especially when we were hoping his good form shown in the Euros would continue domestically.

The transfer window is starting to warm up nicely with rumours left right and centre. Nani has already been linked with a number of clubs; French money bags AS Monaco were rumoured to be preparing a bid in the region of £20M, various Italian teams have also been mentioned but not in the same price bracket. However, reports emerging yesterday suggested that Galatasaray had made an official bid to sign the Portuguese man, who is now entering the final year of his contract. Contrary to these reports, James Ducker, who writes for The Times, mentions in today’s newspaper that no such bid had been lodged.

Whether or not a bid had been received from the Turkish outfit remains to be seen, but what was noteworthy was the alleged amount. It was reported that they only offered £6.5M, a sum that many found to be derisory. Even though Nani still polarises opinion and is still frustratingly inconsistent, surely a player that can produce moments of match-winning quality out of nothing is worth more than that meagre sum? Nani’s season has been littered with misfortune, inconsistency and injury. Two years ago, he was threatening to emerge from the shadows left by Cristiano Ronaldo and looked like the finished product and a world-class one at that. But the fact we are still talking about inconsistencies shows just low Nani has stooped in recent times. The ridiculous and unfortunate red card against Real Madrid looked like it would be costly at the time, not just on the night but in terms of Nani’s long-term future.

Then when he looked like he was getting a confidence boost by tearing Ashley Cole apart in the FA Cup home leg, he went off just before half-time and it proved to be the turning point in the game. David Moyes is apparently willing to let Nani seek pastures new, preferring to cash in on him now whilst his value is maintained rather than risk keeping an unhappy, inconsistent player and let him go on a free next summer. Someone will pick up a relative bargain if the £8.5M asking price from United is to be believed. But the ‘offer’ from Galatasaray true or not is both a bit derisory for a player who has quality but is also a stark reminder of how low Nani’s stock has fallen. His decline has been dramatic, his exit appears likely.