Inside downfall of ex-Man Utd star Anderson who ‘could have been world’s best’ but was obsessed with McDonald’s

FORMER Manchester United star Anderson once had the world at his feet.

But an obsession with McDonald’s and a string of controversies led to his downfall in the beautiful game.

Anderson, 36, had already spent three years starring for Gremio and Porto when he secured a move to United in 2007.

Two years earlier he won the Fifa U17 World Championship Golden Ball.

And aged just 19 at the time, the playmaker commanded an eye-watering £27million fee.

Yet Sir Alex Ferguson felt Anderson, already a two-time Portuguese league winner, was worth every penny after drawing comparisons with Wayne Rooney.

He wrote in his autobiography: “I sent Martin (Ferguson, brother) to watch him in every game for four or five weeks.

“Martin said, ‘Alex, he’s better than Rooney!’ ‘For Christ’s sake, don’t say that,’ I told him.

“’He’ll need to be good to be better than Rooney’. Martin was adamant.”

Anderson’s first season at United saw him make 38 appearances in all competitions, including 24 in the league.

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It also resulted in a stunning Premier League and Champions League double, as well as the Golden Boy award in 2008.

But it also would prove to be his highest amount of games in a season for the rest of his Old Trafford career.

Indeed, it wasn’t until the 2009/10 campaign when Anderson netted his first goal for the club.

Injuries had already started piling up for the midfielder, who by this point had won the last of his eight caps for Copa America winners Brazil.

And along the way, an unhealthy obsession with junk food – namely McDonald’s – began to take a hold.

Former United and Brazil team-mate Rafael said: “We would be on the team coach and pass the services on the motorway, and Anderson would jump up impulsively and yell ‘McDonalds’, McDonald’s’.”

Rafael went on to claim that Anderson could have been the “best in the world” had he knuckled down more.

He added: “The guy was crazy, but I love him. Give him a football and he would just play with freedom.

“And sometimes, if he got a good run of games, he could play as well as any player in the league.

“He picked up a lot of big injuries and then his problems with eating the way he did started to affect him.

“It was no coincidence that his best form came when he had a lot of games because that was when he couldn’t eat so much.

“I will say something about Anderson – if he had been a professional football player, he could have been the best in the world.”

In 2010 Anderson was hospitalised in a horror car crash in Portugal.

He was dragged from his Audi R8 unconscious before it exploded, but somehow miraculously escaped with just minor injuries.

A year later Anderson then courted controversy when he celebrated a rare strike with a gun celebration.

His 76^th minute effort in United’s 3-0 home win against Tottenham saw Anderson do a little dance before pointing his fingers in the shape of pistols.

It was around this time that former United coach Mike Clegg left the club as well.

And he previously revealed that Anderson’s laziness saw Fergie joke about HITTING him with a STICK.

Clegg said: “You could never find a nicer person, he was popular with everyone but he was a lazy bleeder.

“He always had his excuses. I used to have a stick and I said to Fergie very early on, ‘If he carries on, I’m going to hit him with my bleeding stick’.

“Fergie couldn’t believe it. ‘Don’t you dare. He cost me a lot of money. You can’t be hitting one of my players, are you mad?’

“Then six weeks later, Fergie came to me. ‘Where’s that bloody stick? Give me that stick, I want to hit him’.

“Anderson was more than capable of being an absolute stormer of a player. He just needed his head knocking. He didn’t keep fit.

“He chose not to put in the work, so it’s hard to have too much sympathy for him. He was a party animal.”

Anderson’s United career eventually fizzled out in 2015, with his final two seasons resulting in a combined five league appearances.

In total he scored nine goals in 181 games while picking up three more titles.

After a brief loan at Fiorentina, he returned to Brazil with Internacional and underwent a revival with 88 games in just two years.

Anderson then spent time with Coritiba before seeing out his career in 2019 with Turkish side Adana Demirspor aged just 31, where he remains to this day as assistant manager.

But his post-playing career has also been overshadowed by off-the-field issues.

Three years ago Anderson was reportedly charged with alleged involvement in a £4.7million cryptocurrency fraud rung.

He was named by Brazilian media as one of eight people being investigated by a state prosecutor for aggravated theft, fraud and money laundering.

It is not immediately clear today if the investigation is still ongoing.

And Anderson denied all allegations at the time.

This week, Anderson hit headlines after being ordered to prison over his reported failure to pay child maintenance.

He is said to be the father to nine children.

And Anderson was told by a family court judge he must hand over £45,000 in owed fees or else serve 30 days’ jail time in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

Former United team-mates still ponder what could have been for Anderson.

Ben Foster said: “He could have been the best player in the world, I promise you.

“Everybody would say he could have been the best, but he just didn’t care at all.”

Michael Owen added: “He was very talented. Without being too general, he’d have that Brazilian attitude.

“He was a pretty relaxed guy, maybe too relaxed at times. He loved being out there with a ball at his feet.

“But he did not bother about weights or anything really. Him getting back from injuries was often a slow process.

“He was a really good player but if he had that driven mentality he could have been great.”

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk