Anderson’s career may have never reached the level that was expected from him, but his charisma was still enough for him to be loved by many Manchester United fans.
Well, those fans will be pleased to know the midfielder just can’t forget the years he enjoyed at Old Trafford. In an interview with ESPN Brasil, the player recalled his time in the Premier League and made several vows of love to his former club.
“My transfer to Manchester was that dream where a boy from Ruben Berta was growing in the world, in life. A poor boy, just like most of the Brazilian players who come from below to get up there. It was becoming not only my dream but a dream for my entire family.”
Super agent Jorge Mendes has spoken previously about how Anderson’s huge desire to provide a better future for his family was the major driving force behind the player’s success. It really struck Mendes how keen Anderson was to share his success, and the agent helped his player fulfil the family dream.
After impressing with FC Porto, Anderson joined Manchester United in 2007, and in 2008 he was awarded the Golden Boy trophy, for the best youngster playing football in Europe.
“Our team, I think in that time, it had Cristiano Ronaldo, Tevez, Rooney, Nani, Giggs, Ji-Sung Park, Scholes, Carrick, Ferdinand, Evra… they are players who practically already had a name in football. So Ferguson got to me and said I should have much patience, that I wouldn’t play in my first year, I would adapt myself to English football, because it’s very hard football to play, as few Brazilians had played there.”
Manchester United didn’t have a history of recruiting big Brazilian talents, so Anderson was treading a rare path. Soon enough Anderson was part of a trio of Brazilians at Old Trafford, along with Rafael and Fabio Da Silva, and all of them throughly enjoyed their time with Manchester United.
“I won everything at the club. I won four Premier Leagues. A player like Gerrard, who like, played for Liverpool, a player who has history in world football, didn’t win one. And I achieve four playing for the club.
“I was world champion at the club. I was Champions League champion. I played three Champions League finals for the club.
“When I arrived at the club, all the players embraced me. They always joked with everyone. The guys there are very nice. To this day, I’m passionate for that club. It’s the number one in the world for me.”
“Despite being 28 and still being young, I’m proud of myself, I’m proud of the people who helped me to get to this dream, to this objective. And I only have to thank that club.”
It’s only fair to Anderson to point out that the interview was given before the announcement of Steven Gerrard’s retirement, so the former Manchester United player wasn’t simply mocking a Liverpool legend who has just stopped playing professional football.
Anderson is currently playing for Internacional, a big club from the South of Brazil. With only two fixtures to go, they are very close to being relegated for the first time in their history.
Out of the 36 games, Anderson only started seven, as he’s been struggling to impress since his arrival at the club in 2015.
Anderson played for Manchester United between 2007 and 2014. He left with 181 appearances, nine goals and ten trophies.