Now Watch Anderson Go

Nani is backing his friend and team-mate Anderson to follow in his footsteps and establish himself as an important and regular performer in United's first-team.

Both players arrived from Portuguese Liga in 2007 with vast promise to be top players for the Reds.

After showing sometimes sporadic flashes of his undoubted talent, Nani has fully realised his promise and become a key figure at Old Trafford. Now he's backing Anderson to do the same.

"Everyone knows the quality that Anderson has," Nani told ManUtd.com. "He was unlucky with the knee injury that he suffered because he was just starting to play well and show us what we know he can do."

Anderson suffered cruciate knee ligament damage against West Ham in February earlier this year. He's since returned to action and shown he's back on track to be a key man for the Reds. But there's plenty more to come from him, according to Nani.

"We all know here that he is an amazing player," he says. "He is strong, he is a very clever player too and he can be a very important player in this team.

"He is a strong character too, which you need at this club. He’s not scared of anything. He’ll take the ball in any situation and he can be a top player for Manchester United."