Football
ESPN staff 6y

Ex-Manchester United midfielder Rodrigo Possebon moves to Vietnam

Former Manchester United prospect Rodrigo Possebon is attempting to revive his fading career by joining Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) FC in Vietnam.

Once a highly rated young attacking midfielder, he has struggled to live up to the expectations that surrounded him as a teenager.

His journey now sees him arrive in Southeast Asia 10 years after his move to the Premier League.

Turning 29 next month, Possebon signed for United when they had the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes starring in midfield.

But after a promising start to life at Old Trafford, he soon found himself surplus to requirements and his career has seen him move around several clubs without ever playing at the top level apart from a handful of appearances for United.

He is now willing to test himself in Southeast Asia to prove that he still has what it takes to compete at a reasonable level.

The Brazilian joined the Red Devils as an 18-year-old in 2008 after impressing as a youth at Internacional in his home country. The transfer fee was reported to be around £3 million.

The youngster was given his debut by Alex Ferguson on Matchday One of the 2008-09 season, coming on a substitute for the injured Giggs in a 1-1 draw at home to Newcastle United.

However, disaster struck the following month when, in a game in which he started alongside Ronaldo, Possebon was injured by a horror tackle from Emmanuel Pogatetz in a League Cup tie against Middlesbrough.

While the injury was not as serious as first feared, it seemed to disrupt the playmaker's building momentum, and he failed to progress as hoped.

He was loaned out to Braga in Portugal at the beginning of the following season but failed to make an impact and returned to his parent club early.

It was becoming clear that Possebon had no future at United, and Santos took him back to Brazil in 2010.

Since then, his career has flagged, hopping from club to club in Brazil, while a move to Vicenza in Italy didn't work out.

Possebon now has the opportunity to prove that he still has some of the ability that he possessed as a teenager and convinced Ferguson and his team that he was worth bringing all the way to Manchester from Brazil.

 

^ Back to Top ^