“I am going to be a brilliant player,” Bebé said. He wasn’t. To our surprise, given his mediocre showing for the reserves, he made his United debut six days later in a Carling Cup win at Scunthorpe (Ferguson, scouting Champions League opponents Valencia, didn’t see Bebé play then either). It was the first of seven senior appearances. Two even brought goals, albeit in fortunate fashion; a shot that looped up off the Wolves defender George Elokobi and over the goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey and a Champions League goal against Bursaspor, courtesy of a deflection off Ali Tandoğan."

Episode Eighty Nine of the Blizzard Podcast looks back on 'Bye-bye Bebé' by Richard Jolly, originally published in Issue Fourteen in September 2014. In it he explores one of the most mystifying transfers of recent years - that of the unknown Portuguese forward Bebé to Manchester United.

Read the full article here: https://www.theblizzard.co.uk/article/bye-bye-bebe

"Yet his shortcomings were apparent and his United career came to an abrupt halt after the 2011 FA Cup win over Crawley. Ferguson’s team were dreadful and Bebé and Obertan, the two wingers, were the worst of a poor bunch. Their non-league counterparts looked more accomplished players."

Issue Fourteen, like all issues of the Blizzard, is available for £12 plus postage on www.theblizzard.co.uk. Since we’ve relaunched the website, all our articles, including this one, are available to read for free. Non-subscribers get 3 free articles a month, while subscribers have unlimited advert-free browsing, as well as access to digital downloads of all our issues in eBook formats.

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