Man United winger Luis Nani has said that the reason why his form has improved over recent month is due to him having to “grow up”.

Nani told Reuters: “At the moment I’m feeling in good form and I want to contribute to the team winning trophies.”

“Getting to the Champions League final and winning it is one of the aims.
“I work hard every day and I try and be a better player than I was a couple of months ago. I know I am important for the team and I want to try to deliver things for the team.

“This club is good at making players grow up and learn to be a man, to be a player. That happened to me a couple of months ago and now I’m feeling very happy and strong.
 
“I’m still learning all the time. I’m only 23 years old and I still have time to learn things and to try and be an even better player. Of course, I want to score more goals because it’s important for me and the club.
“But at the moment I’m happy with my contribution to the team. I have been involved in setting up a lot of goals. I know I make an important contribution.”

Nani joined Man United in the summer of 2007 and his first few season’s weren’t that great. He did win medals with United but his performance’s weren’t good, sometimes we saw glimpses of what he is capable of but not consitently.

It also didn’t help that he had to compete against Cristiano Ronaldo for a place in the side. Ronaldo was one of the World’s best players so he was going to be picked ahead of Nani most of the time.

When Ronaldo left United in the summer, Nani said that he would fill the boots of Ronaldo, which he didn’t do until earlier on this year.

During mid November, whilst out with his international team Portugal, Nani was quoted as saying:
"Ferguson is a very complicated man.

"He's tough. If things are all right, then they are all right. But when he thinks something is wrong, everything is screwed.

"He can go from complimenting you to just plain trashing you in a matter of minutes. Has it happened to me? Hell, yes! He'll say 'Nani, how could you miss this or this'?"

"He shouts at players in front of everyone. No one escapes, everybody is the same. Giggs and Neville suffer most, because they have more experience. It is 'F**k' here and 'F**k' there."

"People expect more from me and it's not easy. But they are also not doing what they said they were going to.
"I know it would be better if I scored more goals.
"I can have a spectacular game but nobody guarantees me I will be starting the next match. It shatters your confidence.

"I did not play the important matches, against Liverpool, Manchester City or Tottenham. Not playing these games, I am a bit sad. But for now I am not considering leaving."

After that Nani didn’t play until 8th December 2009 in United’s 3-1 win over Wolfsburg. He was then left out of the team until the 16th January 2010, part of that was due to injury.

Since returning he went on a run of three or four stunning matches for United, where he played a main part of United’s games and it looked like he was forging a partnership with Wayne Rooney. On the 10th February Nani was shown a straight red against Aston Villa, which meant he was out for three matches, including the Carling Cup final against Villa.

Since returning from suspension Nani hasn’t quite been in the form he was before the suspension but he is getting better. Nani is becoming more consistent, he just has to hit top form and keep it that way.