Manchester United midfielder Anderson has lavished praise on his club manager Sir Alex Ferguson, insisting that the Red Devils will be worse-off when he retires.
Anderson, 24, joined Manchester United from Porto in 2008 and regards the legendary Scottish manager as a father figure to himself and many others at the club.
Although Ferguson is, at times, a controversial figure, the former Porto midfielder believes that the footballing world, as well as those at Old Trafford, will feel a sense of loss upon his retirement.
“Manchester United is Alex Ferguson. When he leaves, the club will lose 30-40%, so much depends on him,” the midfielder told the Grande Área television program in Portugal.
“He is a father to all the players, a very respected person and when he retires the football world will really feel his loss.
“He always helped me and I have a great affection for him. He lives for training and always wants to know how his players and their families are.”
Anderson has suffered from a string of injury problems over the last couple of seasons and has been easing his way back into action at the start of this campaign.
Outside of the Brazil squad, he now has two weeks to work on his fitness levels at the club’s Carrington training ground before the season recommences in earnest later this month.
