Nani hoping to return to Manchester United at end of Sporting Lisbon loan spell

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter | 26 February 2015

Portuguese winger Nani believes that he still has a future at Manchester United following his successful loan stint at Sporting Lisbon.

Nani has revealed that he would like to remain a Manchester United player when his loan spell at Sporting Lisbon comes to an end in the summer.

The Portugal international has fallen out of favour at Old Trafford and was forced to go in search of regular football in his homeland, linking up with the club where he began his senior career as a youngster.

"I knew with the new manager it would be more difficult because of the new system and my position in it," he told the Daily Mail. "I knew it would be hard to play. I decided to go to Sporting because it was an opportunity to come home, feel comfortable, get games and feel strong again."

Having scored a fine 30-yard goal against Gil Vicente last weekend, a strike which reduced him to tears, rumours soon circulated suggesting that Premier League teams were interested in bringing Nani back to England at the end of his loan spell.

However, the winger says that his priority is to help Sporting achieve their targets in the final third of this season, before then winning back his place in the United squad.

"At the moment I just focus on my job here," he said. "I'll do my best and get in the best condition I can, then come back as strong as possible and see what the manager or the club want from me.

"I love Man United. I love the club. The only decision I made to go away was to play more and be me again because I lost a lot of things there last season because of injuries and the change of the manager. The new manager didn't know me well and a lot of things changed. I needed to play regularly to be happy.

"You never know the future. It depends on a lot of things. If Man United want me to stay then, with different mentality I think we can work well next season but it's a lot of things to discuss and see."

Nani, who signed a five-year contract extension at Old Trafford in 2013, has scored eight goals in 24 appearances for Sporting in all competitions this term.