Former Manchester United winger Nani is set to become the latest global star to join the A-League Men after reports suggest that he is set for a move to Australian giants Melbourne Victory.
News outlets such as Manchester Evening News, The Roar, The Sun, and SEN have reported that 35-year old Nani is set to go Down Under after agreeing on a move to last season’s A-League regular season runners-up Victory.
Italian football journalist Gianluca Di Marzio reported on his Twitter page that Nani is set to depart current club Venezia – freshly relegated from the Serie A – to join Tony Popovic’s Victory on a free transfer.
The move would certainly excite Victory and Australian football fans alike, considering Nani’s pedigree on the international stage. He had deputized for an injured Cristiano Ronaldo in the Euro 2016 final which Portugal won, not to mention the various accolades that he had won during his eight seasons at United, which includes four Premier Leagues, two League Cups, a UEFA Champions League, and a FIFA Club World Cup, all of which establishing Nani as a staple player of the Sir Alex Ferguson era.
Other than United and Venezia, Nani has also played for Portugal’s Sporting Lisbon, Turkey’s Fenerbahce, Spain’s Valencia, Italy’s Lazio, and Orlando City in the MLS.
Should the move goes through, Nani will become Victory’s fifth and final foreign player for the upcoming season, joining last season’s stalwarts Rai Marchan (Spain), Roderick Miranda (Portugal), North Macedonian youngster Matthew Bozinovski, and Croatian goalkeeper Ivan Kelava.
The A-League Men was no stranger to world-class talents arriving in its shores. The 2012-13 season saw Juventus legend Alessandro Del Piero joining Sydney FC, former Leicester City and Liverpool striker (and living meme) Emile Heskey joining Newcastle Jets, and Japan national team legend Shinji Ono joining Western Sydney Wanderers.
Recent years has seen Sweden international Ola Toivonen and Japan international Keisuke Honda joining Victory, Italy international Alessandro Diamanti joining Western United, Dutch star Siem de Jong joining Sydney, Welsh legend Joe Ledley joining Newcastle, and FC Tokyo stalwart Kosuke Ota joining Perth Glory.
Last season alone saw a steady influx of international stars into the A-League men. With both Diamanti and Ota staying at their respective clubs, the likes of Daniel Sturridge (Perth), Jack Rodwell (Western Sydney), and Luciano Narsingh (Sydney) have joined the A-League bandwagon, to mixed successes.
Both Narsingh and Sturridge left after the conclusion of the 2021/22 season (with Sturridge only making a handful of appearances for wooden-spoon holders Perth due to injury), while Rodwell remained with the Wanderers for another year.
While Nani to Victory is still within the works, the 2022/23 A-League Men off-season has saw the arrivals of two notable European stars – former QPR and Southampton striker Charlie Austin joining Brisbane Roar and former Ligue 1 attacking midfielder Romain Amalfinato joining Western Sydney.