"
Flying into Manchester airport for the signing was one of the most
exciting days of my career. The limo transferring me took a while longer to
reach the ground than I expected but once there I was greeted by a sea of
red. The chanting and atmosphere were brilliant and it all passed by in a
blur.
Once inside the ground I was greeted by the manager, the first time we had
met face to face. He was a lot heavier than I expected but spoke to me in
good Spanish which made me feel most welcome. We went straight into a
conference room for the official signing.
After I had put pen to paper the manager turned to me and said “Welcome to
the biggest club in the World”.
I said thank you and asked “When will I meet Wayne and Cristiano”?
There followed about ten minutes of confusion from which it transpired that
there are two clubs in the North West of England known as the “Reds” and my
idiot agent had got them mixed up.
However I had signed so had to get on with it. Benitez was known as the
“Gaffer”. I asked Stevie G (the only other player at the club who could
control the ball) why this was.
He explained that in English “gaffe” is an embarassing mistake. Apparently
even the owners called Rafa “gaffer”.
All I can do now is play really well and hope that Real, Barca or possibly
Barnsley come and save me from my nightmare.
Some days after training I drive from Liverpool to Manchester and sit
outside Old Trafford and dream of what might have been. I can sit there for
hours.
Then Stevie will nudge me and say “Come on Nando, we have to go back”.
We drive silently back to the gaffer.
"