Naz Majeed 

Rooney, Messi, Aguero. All winners of the Golden Boy Award, and all bonafide stars of the game. One other winner was Brazil’s Anderson, whose career took a strange turn after his spell at Manchester United.

When you ask someone about a prodigiously talented former Manchester United player who was known to often appear too relaxed on the pitch, be involved in an off-the-field controversy, and who announced his retirement in his early thirties, you would probably not think of the Brazilian Anderson.

Signed with great fanfare (and perhaps equal parts mystery) from Porto in 2007, the midfielder joined United and seemed to be the Brazilian playmaker that United fans had craved, having missed out on Ronaldinho and Rivaldo in years prior.

Anderson was already a household name in Brazil, having scored on his debut for Gremio as a 16-year old in a season where his side found themselves relegated to the Brazilian Serie B. It was in the promotion play-off the following campaign, however, where Anderson saw himself immortalized in a match that has since come to be known as Batalha dos Aflitos, or the “Battle of the Afflicted” (at the Estádio dos Aflitos).

Gremio, traditionally one of the largest clubs in Brazil, had to avoid defeat against Nautico, but found themselves playing away in a hostile atmosphere, and just before the hour mark, down by two men and with Nautico awarded two penalties (the first missed before half time).

Incensed, the Gremio players’ protests delayed the game for almost half an hour and before the match was eventually restarted, two more Gremio players had been sent off, leaving them with just seven players on the pitch, one of them being their wonderkid playmaker Anderson.

With the second spot-kick saved and pushed away for a corner kick, the ball then broke to Anderson, who carried the ball up the pitch before being brought down, winning a freekick. From the resulting set-piece, Anderson again received the ball and scored the only goal of the game to seal Gremio’s return to the top flight.

That fairy-tale should have been just the beginning of Anderson’s rise to the summit of world football, especially as he would then seal a move to Porto, winning the Portuguese Primeira Liga twice in two seasons.

Anderson was also named the best player at the 2005 FIFA U17 Championships in Peru, almost single-handed dragging Brazil to the final where he was stretchered off in the first half (Brazil would go on to lose against a Mexico side that featured tournament top scorer Carlos Vela).

Greater things beckoned for Anderson, and he found himself at Manchester United, a €30 million deal secured to bring him to Old Trafford alongside new faces Owen Hargreaves and Nani.

Club legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would announce his retirement in the coming weeks, but the squad still boasted the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Edwin Van Der Sar, Ryan Giggs, Rio Ferdinand, and Carlos Tevez.

Anderson appeared to be the heir apparent to Paul Scholes, his storied career winding down. Still, his United career was stop-start, with Sir Alex Ferguson often deploying the skilful playmaker in a much deeper role than he had been used to.

The Brazilian appeared to be unable to adapt to the rigours of the English game, even when slotting into a team filled with world-class talent, though he provided brief glimpses of his talent and potential in the instances he was able to collect the ball and run at defenders.

Anderson was still able to land himself the ultimate prize, a Champions League winner’s medal, coming on in the 2008 Final and scoring in the shootout win against Chelsea. He would later be named the 2008 Golden Boy, an award previously won by Rooney, Lionel Messi, and Sergio Aguero. 

The Brazilian’s next few years at United were a mixed bag, even if he did win more trophies and titles as a part of Sir Alex Ferguson’s rebuilding project at Old Trafford. It was not until 2011 where Anderson began to feature more regularly, finding the steel to match his silk at the base of midfield and offering the stability and thrust that United needed as they battled the re-emergence of Chelsea and the arrival of the modern Manchester City.

An integral part of a high-energy attacking side, Anderson started every game for United in the early part of the season, including their famous 8-2 win against Arsenal, though again injury would see his momentum cut short.

The same pattern would plague the rest of his time at Old Trafford, injuries scuppering any kind of consistency when the Brazilian was selected. Lacking form, fitness, or favour under David Moyes, he would be loaned out to Fiorentina, barely featuring for them after joining in January 2014.

Fiorentina finished 4th in Serie A that season with little help from Anderson, and his return to United, now managed by Louis Van Gaal, did not change his fortunes significantly.

Losing his squad number and playing only two games in 2014/15 (one of them a 4-0 loss to MK Dons in the League Cup), he would finally leave England and Europe in 2015, signing for Internacional.

Missing a penalty on his debut, losing his second game, being substituted before half time and getting sent off made a chaotic first eight weeks for Anderson at the club based in Porto Alegre, local rivals of his boyhood club Gremio, who also beat Internacional 5-0 in the league with Anderson in the starting lineup.

Hauled off at half-time, Anderson was still able to help Internacional finish fifth, though fans were unhappy with his contributions and performances.

Sent on loan to fellow Brazilian side Coritiba in 2017 (playing only 12 games), Anderson then found himself in the TFF First League, the second tier of Turkish Football.

Signing for Adana Demirspor, a side whose greatest achievement to date was to finish as runners-up for the Turkish Cup in 1978, Anderson’s move to Southern Turkey took many by surprise, even if many may even have forgotten that he was still playing professional football. Not yet 30, Anderson would play less than 15 games for Adana in 2018/19, and in 2019/20 only once. 

He would then announce his retirement in September of 2019, reportedly taking up an off-field position for the Turkish side involved in foreign relations. 

A bizarre end to what was once a highly promising career, Anderson’s legacy is one that is filled with highlights and heartbreak. Often beset with injuries just as he had begun to find form, Anderson nonetheless did not help himself by being involved in controversy off the pitch, and from hometown hero to Golden Boy, from Copa America to Champions League, his career trajectory fell dramatically.

His descent from the heights of European football to being dropped for a Turkish second division game is equal parts curious and comical, but it is strange to think of what might have been for a player that at various times offered tantalizing glimpses of his promise, only to have fallen too quickly off the footballing radar.