Nani attributes his rebirth to Fergie

London, Jan. 30 (ANI): Manchester United winger Nani has attributed his dramatic turnabout in form to a heart-to-heart talk with Old Trafford boss Alex Ferguson.

"Week by week the coach has shown more and more confidence in me and that has really helped. Sir Alex was very clear with me - he spoke at length about what he expected and was always very positive," The Sun quoted Nani, as saying.

"He changed my mentality and improved my morale over the past few months and now I think I am getting as much satisfaction from my performances as I ever had."

"Sir Alex never treated me with the exit door while I have always insisted that I could perform at my best for the club. As I've said before, I am Nani and not Cristiano Ronaldo. I don't want comparisons because our style of play is different," he added.

For more than two years, Nani lived in the shadow of his international teammate Cristiano Ronaldo and even after his departure he didn't live upto his 15 million pound price tag.

Last year, he blamed Fergie for mismanaging his career and how he could go from "complimenting you to just plain trashing you in a matter of minutes."

But a string of improved performances, especially in the last two victories over Hull and Manchester City in the Carling Cup semi-final, have altered everyone's perception of the gifted 23-year-old.

United's victory over City on Wednesday means Nani can look forward to a Wembley date in the Carling Cup final against Aston Villa on February 28.

"We celebrated victory in the dressing room as if we had won the league title. It was so important for us to beat our big derby rivals and get to the final. Now the City game is in the past and we are only thinking about Arsenal," he said. (ANI)