Bebe: 'I thought Manchester United move was joke'

By Tom Nightingale, Reporter | 17 November 2015

Former Manchester United flop Bebe admits that he thought the club's interest in him was a joke when he first heard of it as a 20-year-old five years ago.

Former Manchester United attacker Bebe has admitted that he thought it was a joke when he heard that the club wanted to sign him in 2010.

United paid a reported £7m for the then-20-year-old Portuguese forward just five weeks after he had signed for Vitoria de Guimaraes, but he played just seven times in four years at the club.

After loan spells at Besiktas, Rio Ave and Pacos de Ferreira, Bebe left to join Benfica in 2014, but he insisted that it would be a different story if a club of United's size were to sign him at this stage of his career.

"It all happened very quickly, it was a surprise," he told AS. "One day I was training and immediately they told me to leave, that I was going to sign a five-year contract.

"I did not know if it was a joke. I was not there long, but I made the most of it. It was the dream of many kids - it seemed crazy. When I arrived there I was with the best players in the world.

"I found it a bit difficult; the first week I was breathing deeply. I got used to it, though. I arrived there without much football education, with what I had - talent, pace, strength - but I was lacking many things. If a big club signed me now, it would be different."

Bebe is currently on loan at La Liga side Rayo Vallecano, where he has started nine matches and scored one goal.