Sir on Bebe : Sometimes you have to work on an impulse

Dead_Man_Inc SG

Manchester United have struck an agreement which will see Portuguese striker Bebe move to Old Trafford.

The 20-year-old will join United subject to passing a medical later in the week.

The Red Devils have already agreed a deal with Bebe's current employers Vitoria Guimaraes.

Personal terms have also been ironed out, paving the way for the move to be completed.

The youngster will move to England for an undisclosed fee, bolstering United's attacking unit in the process.

Reports suggest the fee involved could be somewhere in the region of £7.4million.

Sir Alex Ferguson has swooped for the burly frontman just five weeks after he signed for Guimaraes, agreeing to match his buy-out clause.

Bebe had been recommended to the United boss by the club's former assistant manager Carlos Queiroz, who is now in charge of the Portugal national side.

He has shown his potential during pre-season with a number of well-taken goals and will bring power and pace to the Red Devils' frontline.

His arrival does come as something of a surprise, though, as United already have eight senior strikers on their books and Ferguson has often stated that he was not looking to add to his squad.

sand king SG

So many strikers! Rooney, Chicarito, BBT, Owen, Welbeck, Kiko now Bebe?!

zocoss SG

I guess this was a case of, he didn't intend to buy but this boy was brought to his knowledge by Queiroz and after watching him, decided to take him now before others start to hover around him...

I don't see any harm having another young striker, cos if he is good enough, he can still make it to the top. And if he does, he can save them a lot of money...

tripsky SG

hope he turn out good... we lack a tank at the frontline anyway.

iceFatboy SG

hope he turn out good... we lack a tank at the frontline anyway.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYNyikDrgZ8, 29th seconds

zocoss SG

Powerful: Bebe was also being closely followed by Real Madrid before Ferguson stepped in

Powerful: Bebe was also being closely followed by Real Madrid before Ferguson stepped in

The 20 year-old arrives at Old Trafford from Portuguese club Vitória de Guimarães, with United having agreed to pay the buyout clause to release Bébé from his five-year contract.

The player – a relative unknown outside his native country – only arrived at Guimarães in July, and it is a mark of Sir Alex Ferguson’s enthusiasm that he was prepared to spend that sort of sum on a player who has spent most of his career playing in the Portuguese third division.

Bébé was recommended to Ferguson by his former assistant, the Portugal manager Carlos Queiroz.

Bebe, 20, who spent part of his childhood on the streets before being raised in an orphanage. The 6ft 2in hitman.

Bebe - real name Tiago Manuel Dias Correia - will rubberstamp his switch to Old Trafford after a medical.

His arrival takes United’s spending since the end of last season to £25 million. Ferguson has already added former Fulham defender Chris Smalling and Javier Hernández to his squad.

Ferguson is reported to have met the player for the first time only on Tuesday, when he was in Portugal to be a witness for Queiroz in a disciplinary case with the Portuguese Football Federation.

United remain interested in Mesut Özil, the Germany international, although they face competition from Barcelona for his signature.

zocoss SG

Manchester United’s latest signing, Bébé, has taken an amazing journey from a youth shelter on the outskirts of Lisbon and playing for a team of "homeless" to the peak of world football.

The 20 year-old is living proof of the transformative effect for good that football can have even in an age when reports are dominated by ownership bids, leveraging deals and six-figure weekly salaries for some players.

“I am very happy. I had the dream of playing, one day, for a major club. That dream has come true,” he said. “Football can change lives, very much.”

It was while living in Casa Do Gaiato, a respected shelter for young people on the outskirts of the Portuguese capital that he was invited with three other boys to play football with CAIS, a partner organisation of the Homeless World Cup, though he never actually played in the competition proper.

He was later spotted by third division Portuguese club Estrela Amadora after impressing for amateur side Loures.

Moving through the youth ranks to the senior side there, the Cacem-born striker attracted the interest of a number of top level clubs in Portugal, as well as a host of European heavyweights including Real Madrid and United, before signing on a free transfer last month with Vitoria Guimaraes, whom United paid an undisclosed fee, believed to be £7.4m.

Sir Alex Ferguson was alerted to the forward’s talent by former assistant manager and now coach of the Portugal national team Carlos Queiroz.

“Bébé is responsible, with one big heart and an all round awesome boy,” says Gonçalo Sequeira dos Santos, a CAIS member and manager of Portugal’s Homeless World Cup Team.

“We are truly happy for this opportunity he has to make his dream come true and improving his life.”

The fairy-tale rise from the streets to the Theatre of Dreams is as surprising as it is heart-warming and owes much to the efforts of grassroots workers in the game, specifically CAIS.

The Homeless World Cup is an annual world class international football tournament working with 64 national grass roots football projects to reach 30,000 homeless players.

The next edition of the event takes place from Sept 19-26 2010 on Copacabana Beach in Rio.

Rooney9 SG

wah lau should use the money 7m and cough another 5-6 m to buy ozil better lar. ozil is the long term replacement for scholes, not that anderson.

zocoss SG

Gill - Bebe 'came from nowhere'. Let's hope it works out."

GILL HAPPY WITH BEBE GAMBLE

Manchester United chief executive David Gill admits the club's prospective new signing Bebe has "come from nowhere".

Bebe's imminent arrival - subject to passing a medical - comes just a matter of weeks after he signed for Vitoria Guimaraes on a free transfer and Gill is frank about the whirlwind nature of a deal that is reportedly worth in the region of £7million.

"He's a player we've been following, but he really came on the scene in the last week or so," Gill told MUTV. "We looked at him, spoke to a number of people about him and then went out and secured the deal.

"It's exciting. He's a potential player, and a lot of Manchester United's focus is about getting players who have the potential and then getting them under the great coaching of Alex (Ferguson), Mick (Phelan), Rene (Meulensteen) and other people. He can fulfil that potential with Manchester United and I think it's going to be exciting. Let's hope it works out."

Gill added that it was unlikely that Bebe would be immediately sent out on loan and would instead be given the chance to bed down at Old Trafford.

"He'll join up and be part of the first-team squad this season," said Gill.

"I think he'll probably stay this year. (He is) a boy who has to learn English and integrate into Manchester United, and he's really come from nowhere in a lot of respects."

Dead_Man_Inc SG

is fergie planning for era after his retirement? seems like he is focusing on young players nowadays..

iceFatboy SG

got a feeling, MUFC MAY be refining the "CRonaldo" process where they scout for potential youngsters, get them in fast/cheap, developed them like crazy, and then hope to sell them for a big profit.

anyway, this guy, I think is not fully 7.5m, alot of terms/conditions involved. I did read in some forum, that SAF is trying to get his own "drogba", so he is trying to get it with Douf, Welbeck but all failed, so this is the new experiment. (no offense to Bebe).

as for Ozil, actually, he should be scouted even b4 the WC, so if he is really that good, maybe he would have been snapped up eons ago. But I think cause of his contract, so his value is low, so people are swarming over him.

zocoss SG

Ferguson - Bebe story a fairytale.

Sir Alex Ferguson has described Bebe's £7million move to Manchester United as a fairytale for the 20-year-old.

In Portugal as a character witness for under-fire national team boss Carlos Queiroz, Ferguson took the opportunity to tie up a deal for Bebe, who had spent just five weeks with Vitoria Guimaraes.

Bebe played football in a homeless team during a brief spell on the streets before his potential was spotted by a Portuguese third division team, where he first came to prominence.

Now he will get the chance to feature for one of the world's most famous clubs, which Ferguson admitted is a meteoric rise by anyone's assessment.

"It is a fairytale when you read about his background," said Ferguson.

"But it is one of those things that happens when you identify someone with potential.

"Normally you would assess someone over a longer period of time but other clubs were starting to have a look so we made a quick decision.

"He doesn't speak any English, so that needs to be addressed, and we need to allow him to settle in but sometimes you have to work on an impulse."

Rooney9 SG

unless he is as pacy as hernandez and have his predatory instincts, I would say he is for the future.

Rooney9 SG

i hope querox is right. he is one for the future. if he can make good after 2-3 seasons, then its a good and cheap buy at 7m. dun think fergie will be much longer after that.

CKeer SG

got a feeling, MUFC MAY be refining the "CRonaldo" process where they scout for potential youngsters, get them in fast/cheap, developed them like crazy, and then hope to sell them for a big profit.

There's Manucho too, who promises so much with the National team but failed when it matters.

I don't know why he was bought when United already has Macheda, Hernandez, Welbeck and Diouf on board. And with the new homegrown rule in place, I wonder why Fergie would waste it on this guy after claiming that he will not let Bebe out on loan this season. Reserves?

Rooney9 SG

Player Factfile

Name: Tiago Manuel Dias Correia, or Bebe
Date of birth: 12 July 1990 (age 20)
Born: Agualva-Cacem, Portugal
Position: Winger/forward
Former clubs: Vitoria de Guimaraes, Estrela da Amadora

"He’s two-footed and he’s very quick. He’s raw material but I’m sure we can work with that. He’s young and we’re good at developing young players."
- Sir Alex Ferguson

When United announced that a Portuguese player called Bebe would be joining the Reds, it left many fans asking, 'Who?'.

He didn't even have a wikipedia page, and the usual stampede to Youtube yielded little. But we've obtained video footage of our new winger in action so you can make your own mind up about him.

Sir Alex believes he is a player of raw potential. "He’s two-footed, he’s very quick, there’s material there," Sir Alex said recently. "He’s raw material but I’m sure we can work with that. He’s young and we’re good at [developing] young players.

"When we identify someone with potential, we would normally assess over a longer period. But we have a good scout in Portugal and he’s very bright. He’s got a tremendous instinct about the boy and we’ve worked on that impulse. Other clubs were starting to hover on the boy so we made a quick decision and said, ‘Why don’t we go for it?’"

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