Source: Daily_Mail
Nani was offered to Middlesbrough for £3.5m before £17m Man United switch
Middlesbrough rejected the chance to sign Nani for £3.5million before he signed for Manchester United.[LNB]Football agent Barry Silkman has revealed that Boro could have signed the winger eight months before he went to Old Trafford.[LNB]Silkman offered the Sporting Lisbon winger to then Boro boss Gareth Southgate, but he turned down the proposal.[LNB] Nani: In action for United during their Premier League clash with Wolves earlier this month[LNB]Nani then signed for United the following summer, for a fee believed to be in the region of £17m.[LNB]Southgate: Turned down the chance to sign Nani[LNB]Silkman told Sport.co.uk: 'Recently, the biggest one I have missed outon, I saw a player in Portugal a few years ago called Nani.[LNB]'I tried to do a deal with Middlesbrough who I was very close to at the time; I did a lot of deals when Steve McClaren was manager.[LNB]'I offered Nani to Middlesbrough and Gareth Southgate didn't fancy him. He was £3.5million.'[LNB]'He went to Manchester United for £17m and it was only eight or nine months later, that's all it was.[LNB]'Manchester United's chief executive David Gill actually phoned Middlesbrough chief executive Keith Lamb to ask him if that story was true! And Keith Lamb said yeah it is.'[LNB]Nani has struggled badly at times while at United, but has improved greatly in recent months.[LNB]He was brilliant during United's 3-1 victory over fellow title chasers Arsenal in January[LNB] Watch us win every game left this season, warns United veteran ScholesRooney has emerged as world-class talent we knew he was, says ParkMANCHESTER UNITED FC
