Nani surprises Sir Alex

Sir Alex Ferguson has been pleasantly surprised by the way Nani has settled since moving from Sporting Lisbon, and the Reds boss predicts a bright future ahead for the Portuguese winger.

The 20-year-old has played in 11 of United's opening 13 fixtures in 2007/08, seven of which have been starts.

“There's tremendous potential in the boy,” he said. “We’re really quite bullish about him.”

It was initially expected that Nani would be used in a way that allowed Ryan Giggs regular rests. However, a combination of injuries and a relatively seamless settling-in period have led to a more permanent involvement.

“Our long-term view was that he'd come in for Giggs now and again," said the boss. "But he's played quite a few times already and what we've seen so far are things that you only pick up after the player joins. He’s quicker than I thought – very, very quick, in fact. He’s also a marvellous crosser of the ball.

"He’ll settle in more as he learns the language. He's keen, and he’s doing all right with his English. There’s great potential there, and he’s only 20, so he's only going to get better."