Oh Bebe! Manchester United flop plots Premier League return
Published:After a 3-0 home defeat to cross-town rivals Manchester City, you would be forgiven for thinking things couldn’t get much worse for Manchester United and David Moyes – but you’d be wrong.
Because, while rumours surrounding the future of the currently injured Robin Van Persie persist a, certain Portuguese forward is looking to make a return to the Reds – and before you ask, no, it’s not Cristiano Ronaldo.
Signed for a rumoured €9m back in the heady summer of 2010, Tiago Manuel Dias Correia or Bebe as he is commonly known, has gone down as arguably one of the worst signings in Sir Alex Ferguson’s 27-year reign at the club.
Featuring just seven times for Manchester United under the Scot, the 23-year-old still managed to distinguish himself as a player well and truly out of his depth for the Reds – and this was in a team that also featured Gabriel Obertan.
Bebe’s one true highlight remains a bizarre goal against Wolves in the League Cup – a fluky strike to say the least but one which was nevertheless celebrated by the striker with the kind of gusto usually reserved for Champions League wondergoals.
Ferguson soon saw sense though, sending the Portuguese out on a series of fruitless loans that began with a season at Besiktas.
When the Turkish giants opted against a permanent move Bebe found himself back in Portugal with Rio Ave, where 17 appearances brought a return of one goal – in the same season RVP was firing United to league title success.
In fairness though, his current spell at Pacos de Ferreira has seen a marked improvement with eight goals this term. Bebe has already been the star of a series of popular YouTube clips chronicling his endeavours this term from one bizarre free-kick blooper to a screamer of a goal earlier in the season.
And he had his scoring boots on again last weekend with another memorable goal that prompted the 23-year-old to reiterate his desire to make a return to Manchester.
“I am in good form and I hope to remain this way,” he told reporters after scoring twice in the win over Arouca.
“I still hope to return to Manchester United but nobody from the club has spoken to me.”
Whether his signing was part of some wider conspiracy at the club – something claimed by some Reds supporters – is unclear, but with United out of the running for the top four and 11/2 to beat Bayern Munich at Old Trafford in the Champions League, in the words of Pato Banton, Moyes may want Bebe to come back.
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