Anderson Luís de Abreu Oliveira

2004/06 Grêmio (BRA) 69 games, 14 goals

2006/07 FC Porto (POR) 25 games, 6 goals

2007/15 Manchester United (ENG) 181 games, 12 goals

2014 Fiorentina (ITA) (loan) 8 games

2015/18 Internacional (BRA) 88 games, 6 goals

2017 Coritiba (BRA) (loan) 23 games, 3 goals

2018/19 Adana Demirspor (TUR) 15 games

With the National Team :

8 caps

(Friendly matches: 4 caps)

(World Cup Qualifiers: 2 caps)

(Copa America: 2 caps)

1st cap: 28 June 2007 against Mexico (0-2)

Last cap: 19 November 2008 against Portugal (6-2)

U16: 4 caps

U17: 15 caps, 7 goals

U23: 7 caps, 1 goal

Anderson Luís de Abreu Oliveira

Born on April 13, 1988 in Porto Alegre (BRA)

Brazilian, Central-Midfielder/Attacking-midfielder, 1m76

Anderson Luís de Abreu Oliveira was born on April 13, 1988. Trained at Grêmio, he was quickly compared to Ronaldinho for his dribbling and technical skills. He participated in the Under-17 World Cup in 2005 and finished as the best player in the competition. His talent was so great that he was recruited in 2005, at 17, by FC Porto.

At Porto, he reached the age of 18 to make his debut for the club, Porto FC being afraid of problems with FIFA if they played the Brazilian player before he came of age. An excellent dribbler, this attacking midfielder has an exceptional passing ability and could be the perfect playmaker.

With the Portuguese club, he played his first Champions League matches but he seriously injured his leg, which kept him away from the field for about 6 months. Despite this serious injury, his youth and talent were spotted by all the biggest clubs in Europe including Manchester United, Real Madrid and Chelsea FC.

Observed by Alex Ferguson's brother, he called him a "better" player than Wayne Rooney. Martin Ferguson was sure of the young Brazilian's high potential, which convinced Alex Ferguson to do what was necessary to recruit him. In total, a sum of 27 million pounds sterling was spent in 2007 to get the player. A huge sum for the time.

His first season at Manchester United was very good, he made a place for himself as a replacement for Paul Scholes, since his injury, Anderson seemed to have lost his top speed and was therefore placed in the number 8 position. As a central midfielder, he showed impressive passing skills, capable of launching the attackers into the depth with beautiful long passes.

Quickly becoming a darling of the supporters of the English club and Sir Alex Ferguson, he was used in big matches. He was one of the penalty takers in the 2007/08 Champions League final. Proving himself to be a complete midfielder, strength, endurance, dribbling, technical qualities, he gradually became a star and a great hope of world football.

His 2007/08 season was also exceptional, he played 38 matches and provided 2 assists, statistics that seem derisory but which do not show the importance of the player in the game of the Manchester team. He won the Champions League and the Premier League.

His maturity in his game, his ability to raise his level in big matches made him the Golden Boy 2008 ahead of Theo Walcott and Sergio Agüero. The 2008/09 season was still as encouraging in the sense that he played Champions League matches again and reached a final in this competition again.

Anderson was then considered one of the best young players of his generation and his future seemed bright. But the rest would be anything but that, the best of his career was already over. Indeed, the player never really recovered from his injury suffered in Porto, and during the 2009/10 season, he suffered a new cruciate ligament injury.

Subsequently, he suffered a series of knee, calf and hamstring injuries. A cliché player in Brazilian football, he did not have the ethics of a professional footballer, preferring to party rather than train hard regularly.

After this cruciate ligament rupture, the player no longer had the same magic and no longer weighed as much on his team's game. Highly appreciated by Alex Ferguson, once the coach left, Anderson lost his place as a player in the team and was pushed towards the exit.

He went on loan to Fiorentina during the 2014/15 season before returning to Brazil and then ending his career in Turkey at Adana Demirspor. He was then 31 years old. His career with Brazil was short but he won the 2007 Copa America and also played in the 2008 Olympic Games where he won the bronze medal. Selected for the 2009 Confederations Cup, he ultimately withdrew due to injury and was replaced by Kléberson.

- Golden Boy in 2008

- Voted best player of the Under-17 World Cup in 2005

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