Rafael joins Lyon and picks No. 20 Jersey in honour of United

After completing a move to Olympique Lyon, former Manchester United defender Rafael da Silva has selected the no. 20 jersey in honour of the English club’s premier league titles.

Rafael joined Lyon on Monday and he has already begun training with his new team.  He has signed a four-year contract with the French Ligue 1 2014/2015  runners up.

The 25-year-old has been at Manchester United for almost eight years since he switched from Fluminense in 2008 with his twin brother Fabio.

His energetic style of play got him into good books with Sir Alex Ferguson. Nonetheless, Rafael had fallen out of favour at the club under Louis van Gaal, starting just six league games in the 2014/2015 season.

Rafael has left United having made 170 appearances and scoring five goals. He won three Premier League titles, the League Cup, the Club World Cup and twice picking the Champions League runners-up medals during his period at United.

The Brazilian right-back joins fellow South American Angel Di Maria as second Manchester United player to join the French league this week. Di Maria is set to join  Ligue 1 side Paris Saint-Germain  on a £44 million (Ksh 4.8 billion) move.

“I want to thank Manchester United fans for all the love during those 8 years,” Rafael announced on his official Instagram account.

Manchester United fans took to social media on Tuesday to share some of their best memories of Rafael at the club.

I want to thank Manchester United fans for all the love during those 8 years. Since I signed with the club I lived incredible moments, after all it was 8 years wearing the shirt of one of the biggest clubs of the world. Thank you Manchester United FC. I also want to thank all employees who always treated me with great affection and gave me greater attention. Thank you United Kingdom, I learned a lot in this country, as a player, and no doubt as a human being, lessons that I will keep for the rest of my life. Thank you Sir Alex Ferguson for always believing in my work and for all the doors that you opened up to me. Now it's a new path, a new challenge, God bless me! Quero agradecer aos torcedores do Manchester United por todo o carinho durante esses 8 anos. Desde que assinei com o clube vivi momentos incríveis, afinal de contas foram 8 anos vestindo a camisa de um dos maior clubes do mundo. Obrigado Manchester United FC. Também agradeço aos vários funcionários que sempre me trataram com muito carinho e dando a maior atenção do mundo. Obrigado Reino Unido, aprendi muito nesse país, como jogador, e sem dúvidas como ser humano, aprendizado que vou levar para toda vida. Obrigado Sir Alex Ferguson por sempre ter acreditado no meu trabalho e por todas as portas que me abriu. Agora é um novo caminho, um novo desafio, que Deus me abençoe!

A photo posted by Rafael Da Silva (@orafa2) on

— MUFC Peoples Person (@PeoplesPerson_) August 4, 2015

— Beck (@Bibekhatiwada) August 4, 2015

Tags:

Manchester United PSG England France Lyon Ligue 1 EPL football Angel Di Maria Sir Alex Ferguson Soccer Rafael

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