Nani sends 'special' Manchester United message as proud admission made after 'debut'

Manchester United icon Nani featured for the Reds once again on Saturday as he played in the legends fixture against Celtic at Parkhead

Former Manchester United winger Nani has sent a heartfelt message to the club after making his second debut in the legends match against Celtic on Saturday afternoon.

The two teams' legends met at Old Trafford last September to raise money for United and Celtic's foundations. Having traveled to Manchester in 2024, it was the Glasgow club's turn to host the match during the September international break in 2025.

United fielded a team packed with memorable names for the fixture and entered half-time 2-0 up thanks to goals from Darren Fletcher and Dimitar Berbatov. However, the Glasgow club managed to comeback in the second half with a quickfire brace from Scott McDonald and Shaun Maloney forcing penalties.

The Reds went on to lose the shootout 4-3 with Lee Naylor converting the winning penalty to send the Glasgow fans home happy. While United may have lost, Nani took to social media on Saturday evening to insist that the result was secondary to the pride he felt representing the club again for the special clauses.

He wrote on Instagram: "My debut with the Manchester United Legends, in a special match with an even greater purpose. More than the result, it was about giving.

"Proud to wear this special jersey again with some good friends. Thank you to everyone who came out!"

Now 38, the winger retired from football last year after a brief spell with Estrela Amadora in Portugal. He would make the most amount of appearances in his career for United despite playing for Sporting on three separate occasions.

Between 2007 and 2015, Nani managed to score 41 goals and bag 65 assists in 230 appearances. This led him to be part of the squads that won the Champions League, four Premier Leagues, two League Cups and the Club World Cup during his time in Manchester.

Among his other accolades, Nani won Euro 2016 with Portugal and was a three-time Portuguese Cup winner with Sporting. Since retirement, the former winger has turned his attention to working with his namesake academy and he also holds minority stakes in the Portuguese lower league club Sintrense SAD.

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