Club Focus - Manchester United - Magpies await United as Ferguson springs Bebe surprise
Whilst various members of his squad were widely dispersed playing for their respective countries in midweek, Sir Alex Ferguson was busy on his own trip away from Old Trafford to spring another transfer surprise on Manchester United fans.
Having signed Javier Hernandez in April without a single column inch of anticipation from the nation’s press, the manager has now produced a piece of business that comes even more out of leftfield. Chicharito may not have been anything approaching a household name in England but he had at least begun to make his mark on the international scene with four goals in as many games for Mexico at the time his signing was announced. The same cannot be said for the latest arrival, little known Portuguese striker Bebe. The closest the 20-year-old has come to wearing his country’s shirt has been in the Homeless World Cup, with the player’s unusual childhood spent on the streets and in an orphanage the most prominent element of his back story to have thus far been uncovered by the media.
Quite how the transfer has come about is still unclear. That United have triggered a release clause in the region of £7.5m to free him from his contract appears to be concrete fact. What is more puzzling is the fact that Bebe had only been at his current club, Portuguese top flight side Vitoria de Guimarães, for five weeks having arrived from third division outfit Estrela da Amadora. His signing is likely to have come after advice from former United assistant manager Carlos Queiroz, for whom Ferguson has been acting as a character witness at a disciplinary hearing in Portugal. If the Portuguese national team’s Head Coach is enamoured enough about the player that he has managed to convince Sir Alex to splash out a sizeable fee to ward off alleged interest from Real Madrid, then why did he not press his former boss to sign him at a much reduced rate just a few weeks ago when Vitoria snapped him up?
Chief executive David Gill has suggested that Bebe will immediately become part of the first team squad rather than be farmed out on loan. By Gill’s own admission, the player needs to be assimilated into life at the club, and he will benefit from the improved standard of coaching he will receive at Carrington. Where he will factor in the pecking order is anyone’s guess, but his prospects of making an impact on the side will be increased following the loan departures of Mame Diouf and Danny Welbeck. United have had mixed results in the past in signing rough diamonds, with Cristiano Ronaldo signed earlier than some at the club had planned but proving a highly successful investment whilst the likes of David Bellion crumbled under the spotlight.
As Bebe was being unveiled - subject to a medical - the eyes of many United fans will have been glued to the performance of United’s leading striker, Wayne Rooney, in an England shirt. Having had 45 minutes in United’s final pre-season friendly in Ireland, followed by the first half of the Community Shield, Rooney stepped up his preparations for the new season with 66 minutes at Wembley against Hungary. It was hardly a vintage performance from last season’s top scorer but the game time will prove beneficial ahead of United’s season opener with Newcastle United on Monday. After featuring in key games towards the business end of the previous campaign whilst clearly unfit, and having cut a subdued and frustrated figure during the World Cup, it is imperative Rooney builds up his match fitness steadily for United’s assault on reclaiming the Premier League title. It would have been a lot to ask for him to last the full game against the Magpies had he played just two half-matches, but this increased period for the Three Lions will help bridge the gap to playing 90 minutes on his next run out.
After a disappointing close to last season and further frustration for many players over the summer, either at their countries’ failures at the World Cup or at missing out on the tournament completely, the United squad will be relishing the first fixture of the season against the newly-promoted Geordies. When Newcastle were relegated at the end of the 2008/09 season, it came after claiming a highly creditable draw at Old Trafford on the opening day that promised much more for the visitors than they duly delivered over the following nine months. United will be desperate to start this campaign off with a positive result, but they too will remember that the first result of the season is just one of 38, ending that same campaign as champions having been disappointed with the same draw.
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