Salzburg striker Alan Douglas Borges de Carvalho has thanked the City fans for their affection and support over what has been an incredible few days in the 21-year-old’s life.

When the Brazilian striker stepped on to the pitch in the 57th minute of Wednesday’s Europa League tie, he couldn’t have imagined the reaction he would get after the announcer grappled with his five-part name eventually just introducing him as ‘Alan’.

The songs began almost immediately with chants of ‘Alan is Superman!’, ‘Alan for England’, ‘Alan for City’ among others as well as countless pleas for the youngster to give the City fans a wave.

Alan Snow

By the end of the game, the Alan songs were outnumbering those for the Blues with the supporters urging him to cap a memorable night with a goal.

It must have been a bit bemusing for the player who joined the Austrian side from Fluminese in 2010, but he finally acknowledged the support from the stands towards the end of the game and sent a message to his new legion of admirers.

“I’d just like to thank the City fans for the reception they gave me,” he said.

I appreciate the affection and all the support and affection you’ve all shown me. I love you guys!

...Alan

 

With fans’ forums reaching fever pitch over Alan, who has become something of a cult hero in the blue half of Manchester, we’ve been on his trail for the past 24 hours and he has tentatively agreed to an exclusive interview for our official website after Salzburg’s game against Austria Wien on Saturday.

Keep your eyes open for the interview all City fans are waiting for. In the meantime you can take advantage of our free name printing on shirts purchased this weekend and make Alan even more famous!