Bébé - Manchester United’s Next Star or Flop?

On the evening of Tuesday 10th August the news broke that Manchester United had signed a player by the name of Bébé, 20, for £7.4m. The transfer came out of nowhere, almost like the player.

Before the transfer, he didn’t even have a Wiki page and was unheard of in this country. At first it was thought Bébé was a striker. However, Sir Alex Ferguson has since confirmed he is a winger or attacking midfielder saying "We don't need to rush him. We have plenty of players in his position like Nani, Valencia, Obertan, Cleverley and Giggs."

United moved fast to get their man, David Gill, United's chief executive, said. "He's a player we've been following but he really came on the scene in the last week or so. He's a potential player and a lot of Manchester United's focus is about getting players who have the potential. Let's hope it works out."

Bébé – or Tiago Manuel Dias Correia to give him his proper name – was born to Cape Verdean parents, the same as his new colleague Nani. This was in the Sintra municipality, a region of great natural beauty, with its national park, the mountain range, the Pena Palace and the ninth century Castelo dos Mouros.

Bébé learned most of his skills on a concrete tennis court, which helped transform him as a player. "He's a player who is the fruit of street football," Jorge Paixão, his manager at Estrela da Amadora, says. "Nowadays players are schooled at the clubs but he has none of this. He's an old-school player. He learned to play in the street and has that natural creativity, an irreverence, and that makes all the difference."

Sir Alex, helped by former assistant manager Calros Queiroz clearly saw something in this kid who signed for Vitória de Guimarães, from a Portuguese Third Division on a free transfer only five weeks ago. Sir Alex said "He's quick, two-footed, raw material but I'm sure we can work with that. Normally we'd assess a player over a long period but we have a good scout in Portugal. Other clubs were starting to hover."

Manchester United now have six Portuguese speaking players, Nani, Fabio, Rafael, Anderson, Possebon and of course Bébé. Fergie will no doubt be looking towards these players to help Bébé settle in.

Only time will tell if Man United have unearthed a star from nowhere or he will turn out to be a flop like Manucho, Dong Fangzou and Kleberson.