GettyImagesNani's time at Manchester United may be coming to an end

February 16, 2008. Luis Nani had set up one goal and scored another in a sumptuous cup victory for United against Arsenal at Old Trafford. Then the other side of his game came out. Receiving a cross-field ball on his chest, he did three keepie-uppies to taunt the beaten and shamed Arsenal players. William Gallas lunged at him, outraged, and was lucky not to be disciplined. "I'll have a word with him about that," Sir Alex said after the match. Four and a half years later, Fergie might have given up trying to change Nani's ways.

On Wednesday night, with the clock ticking down at Stamford Bridge, and United edging towards a second famous victory against Chelsea in a week, Nani's predilection to showboat reared its ugly head again. Instead of running the ball to the corner flag and maintaining possession, he tried to beat his man and lost the ball. Chelsea responded and immediately won the penalty that took the game into extra time.

"Nani is experienced but he's a player who wants to beat men and I often discourage him from that. In that situation, if we'd kept the ball at the corner flag, the game's over," Sir Alex opined at full time. Quite.

One reason Nani has a tendency to use flair in his play is that he is genuinely good at it. His goal against Chelsea was absolutely beautiful and his statistics are more impressive than you might imagine. Last season, Nani provided ten assists - more than Samir Nasri or Sergio Aguero did at Manchester City, more than Theo Walcott at Arsenal. More crucially, it was also a higher tally than team-mates Ashley Young and Ryan Giggs.

This season, the situation is different. Last term, Nani was vying for a starting place with the more injury-prone Young, and Antonio Valencia only returned from injury recently. Now, Shinji Kagawa is in the mix, Valencia is almost back to his best and United even play without wingers on occasion. Suddenly, Nani is looking like a luxury.

Nani has never really won over the United faithful and it appears he hasn't won over Fergie, either. His future at the club was reported to be in jeopardy when he spoke disparagingly about Ferguson whilst on international duty in 2010. The same is the case now. He was linked with a move to Russia in the last transfer window and his current contract negotiations have gone on just that little bit too long.

The problem, surely, lies with Nani's attitude rather than his ability. Fergie is only interested in winning - everything else comes second. He will be the first to overlook an attitude problem if the player is invaluable. One need only look as far as Nani's idol and compatriot, Cristiano Ronaldo, for proof of that.

Fergie's latest comment could simply be frustration at losing to a rival; equally, it could be a ploy to hurry up the contract talks and get it over with. Should the Portuguese decide not to sign a new contract before Christmas, though, United will surely look to move him on in the January transfer window. There are reports that Juventus are interested in acquiring his services in Italy and there is a growing feeling that the time might be right for a parting of the ways.

One man whose refusal to sign a contract worked in United's favour is Robin van Persie. This Saturday sees the Dutchman face old club Arsenal in the league at Old Trafford, and Arsene Wenger, his former manager, called for "respect" to be shown from fans.

Another goal-fest could await after the 8-2 in the fixture last season, but that won't be the only thing on Arsenal minds. As things stand, their hopes of a decent league campaign hang by a thread. United will be looking to cut the cord.

Follow Mark on www.twitter.com/markjpayne

• Recommend0
• Tweet0
• Email