Transfer Truth: The Truth on Nani to Arsenal

Once promising Portuguese winger Nani has seen his name increasingly linked with Arsenal recently after a reported £6.5m bid fell short of a suggested £8m price tag applied by Manchester United.

Nani: Transfer Truth: 20%
Despite a long search, we could only come up with a handful of reports that went beyond pure speculation and the quotes within don't suggest in anyway that Arsenal are in the hunt or even that it is definite Nani will leave.
My future? Nothing is certain, I am calm. I have everything in my hands. I am not saying that I will not continue at Manchester United. I will think about what is best for me.
This really reveals nothing beyond what we didn't already know. Nani fell out of favour with Ferguson after a mediocre season and with just a year remaining on his contract he may be available for a cut price fee, though his likely high wage demands would make him a gamble for anyone willing to cough up the cash.
Previously Linked
The main logical basis for this rumour appears to have been the fact that during the January transfer window last season, with Theo Walcott still not having ended his contract saga, Wenger began being linked with any half available winger in the country as a possible replacement for his England starlet.
There is more than one issue with this half baked assumption. Firstly, we could find no official comment from Nani or Wenger that Arsenal were indeed interested in him at the time so even that old story was purely conjecture. Then there is the fact that Ferguson is no longer the manager, and Moyes may well give Nani another crack at the whip. Finally, even though Ferguson hardly played Nani last season, he appears to still rate him very highly, when asked about a move away for Nani last winter he spoke very fondly of him and suggested strongly that the winger had a future at United, and that he definitely would not be sold at that stage. With Ferguson still involved in an advisory role he may well be inclined to give Nani another go too.
So the whole story appears to have been complied on the basis of the limited time remaining on Nani's contract, the fictitious notion that Arsenal were seriously chasing him last winter when Walcott's contract remained unsigned, and the disputable idea that he is no longer wanted by new United manager David Moyes.
We're giving this story a truth rating of 20% on the basis that his low price might make him attractive for any club wealthy enough to pay his wages, but this by no means implies he will leave United. His chances of signing for Arsenal are even lower than that on the basis that we could find nothing beyond deductive speculation that linked him to Arsenal in specific.