Manchester United player profile - Nani

Nani, the Manchester United and Portugal winger, was born Luís Carlos Almeida da Cunha on 17th November 1986 in Praia on the Portuguese islands of Cape Verde. Nani's family emigrated to mainland Portugal when he was very young and consequently he grew up in a district of Lisbon but despite living in the capital Nani supported F.C. Porto. As a junior Nani played for Real de Massamá before going on to join the youth squad of Sporting Clube de Portugal (Sporting Lisbon) in 2003. In 2005, two years after he joined the youth side, Nani progressed to the Sporting Lisbon senior squad where he made his first team debut during the 05/06 season. Nani enjoyed much success whilst with Sporting Lisbon scoring 9 goals in a total of 59 appearances, including 1 goal in 6 UEFA Cup appearances.

Nani made his senior international debut on 1st September 2006 in a friendly against Denmark scoring one of Portugal's goals in the 4-2 loss, he was also part of the squad which went to the Euro 2008 finals in Austria and Swizerland.

In June 2007 Nani left Sporting Lisbon and joined Manchester United on a five year contract for a fee of £17 million. Nani made his debut for Manchester United against Shenzhen Shangqingyin in July 2007, during a pre-season tour of China, he scored in the match which Manchester United won 6-0. Nani's competitive debut for Manchester United came in the Community Shield against Chelsea on 5th August 2007, United won the match on penalties and Nani won his first trophy with the club. Nani's Premier League debut came on 12th August 2007 in the opening match of the 07/08 season against Reading, two weeks later Nani opened his Premier League goal scoring account in a 1-0 win over Tottenham. Nani's first season in English football couldn't have been much better as Manchester United won both the Premier League and UEFA Champions League.