Manchester United Signs Portuguese Striker Bebe

According to the recent media reports, Manchester United made a shock move by signing the Portuguese forward Tiago Manuel Dias Correia, popularly known as Bebe from the Portuguese club Vitória de Guimarães.

It is reported that Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson agreed to terms and finalized the deal at around £7.4m. The much unknown striker now becomes the eighth senior striker for the club along with Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov, Chicharito Hernandez, Federico Macheda, Danny Welbeck, Michael Owen and Mame Birame Diouf (loaned out to Blackburn Rovers).  He also becomes the third signing at Old Trafford with United spending somewhere around £25m this summer, the former two being Chris Smalling and Chicharito.

Who is this Bebe? He is a future gem according to Carlos Queiroz, the former assistant of Sir Alex and the national coach of Portugal, who recommended Bebe to Ferguson.  Bebe, a 20 year old, is said to be a fast, technically gifted striker, has a high scoring ability with his right foot and is great in the air at 6'2". He has good physical presence and strong passing skills.

He has impressive performances for his club in preseason but he is much unknown and of a low profile, which makes this signing a surprise move. Especially when the United manager said that he was happy with his squad.

Bebe's signing was a straight forward one where Ferguson met the striker recently in Portugal when he went to be a witness for a disciplinary legal case for Queiroz and signed the striker.

United has paid for the buyout clause of Bebe, who was brought up in an orphanage, and represented his country in the Homeless World Cup.

At the same time, United is said to be keen on the German sensation Mesut Ozil, as Sir Alex went to Craven Cottage to witness the player playing for Werder Bremen. The Guardian even reports that he stayed back at the end of the match to talk with the officials, but he will face strong competition from Chelsea and Barcelona for the chase.

A twist in the story was when a link to the United website featured Mesut Ozil as signed already. When I am writing this, this link to the page works.

All in a nutshell, the United Manager is focused in eagle eye to the silverware and we hope for a brilliant season from United ahead.