According to Dominic Fifield, Manchester United were offered James Rodríguez for £5m back in 2010. However, we had already signed the legend that is Bebe from Vitória Guimarães so we decided to pass up the option to sign him.
James Rodríguez, the Colombia playmaker whose breathtaking form at the World Cup has seen him lauded as one of the players of the tournament and has thrust his national team into a first ever quarter-final, was offered to Manchester United for around £5m as a teenager, only for United to pursue other options.
While the Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari frets over how to quell the threat posed by a player who turns 23 on the eve of the World Cup final, United might curse their oversight from four years ago. Intermediaries first approached senior scouts at Old Trafford in 2010, when the teenage forward was establishing his reputation at Club Atlético Banfield in Argentina. Rodríguez had made his debut at 17, the youngest foreigner to have played in the Argentinian top-flight, and helped lead the club to their first league championship in 2009 with the manager, Julio Falcioni, convinced he would go on to excel in Europe and for Colombia.
Even so, the player was available for as little as £5m when he was touted to United, a club who employed a permanent scout in South America and had close ties with the region having recruited Uruguay’s Diego Forlán and, albeit via Wigan Athletic, Antonio Valencia of Ecuador.
Sir Alex Ferguson was close to securing Javier Hernández from Guadalajara at the time, but the agents attempting to bring Rodríguez to Europe received no response from United. A few weeks later, United instead spent £7.4m on Bebé – only five weeks after the Portuguese had signed for Vitória Guimarães – to bolster their attack – despite Ferguson later admitting he had never seen the striker play.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing. No one could have predicted that Bebe would be this good...Oh what might have been. The full article can be found here http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jun/29/james-rodriguez-manchester-united-colombia-world-cup-2014
The curious case of Bebe
posted on 30/6/14
Just wait til 2018. It'll be bebe fever, he'll set it in fire
posted on 30/6/14
Some good points. It's very rare for us to unearth a hidden gem. The only I can think of is Javier Hernandez, who at £7m or less was a steal.
I still don't know what our scouts saw in Bebe to warrant such a high fee. To be fair to the guy he isn't as bad as some of our fans say. He has only played for us 7 times and has managed to score 2 goals, which isn't a bad return. Surely you can't dismiss a player who has only featured for us 7 times (not sure how many starts).He's had a successful loan spell at Pacos de Ferreira, where he scored 14 goals including a belter against Arouca. I wonder what will happen to him next season since his contract runs out next year.
posted on 30/6/14
The odd thing about Bebe was that United set aside all the usual checks before they signed him. Which is odd because I think one look at him playing and you can see he's not good enough.
posted on 30/6/14
Christ, Rodriguez scores a blinder and is suddenly the hottest property in world football.
Even before Saturday's game he has played well in the group stages, yet there was nothing on these boards about him.
He's a good player, with potential but at the moment that's all it is. How often do we see players have a brilliant season and fall by the wayside, especially South Americans.
posted on 30/6/14
Dont think its as clear cut as us not going for him etc
In 2010 at 17 United would have been unlikely to get a work permit for him... Also Porto got him so cheaply because they only took part ownership of his rights... Third party ownership is not permitted so he would have cost us more and therefore been more of a risk
posted on 30/6/14
We would have played him at fullback or something and then dropped him to the reserves
Id he'd come to us, about now he would have just finished a loan at a Championship club playing in goal
posted on 30/6/14
Articles like this justify my descreased activity on the United board during the world cup/transfer season.
I suppose i am alone but i would go as far in saying James Rodriguez is becoming very overrated by many.
No doubt he is talented player but people comparing him to greats like Zidane/Maradona. He has a helluva lot to learn and improve on in the game and I have seen a fair bit of the lad. Sure, he has the makings to be an excellent player but let's chill!
posted on 30/6/14
comment by Busbybabes (U9083)
posted 4 hours, 20 minutes ago
Christ, Rodriguez scores a blinder and is suddenly the hottest property in world football.
Even before Saturday's game he has played well in the group stages, yet there was nothing on these boards about him.
He's a good player, with potential but at the moment that's all it is. How often do we see players have a brilliant season and fall by the wayside, especially South Americans.
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spot on
but you know, when dealing with those with unformed thinking skills that populate these boards, you should expect nothing less (or more).
posted on 30/6/14
comment by IAmMe (U18491)
posted 13 minutes ago
comment by Busbybabes (U9083)
posted 4 hours, 20 minutes ago
Christ, Rodriguez scores a blinder and is suddenly the hottest property in world football.
Even before Saturday's game he has played well in the group stages, yet there was nothing on these boards about him.
He's a good player, with potential but at the moment that's all it is. How often do we see players have a brilliant season and fall by the wayside, especially South Americans.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
spot on
but you know, when dealing with those with unformed thinking skills that populate these boards, you should expect nothing less (or more).
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Are you as strange in real life as you are on the internet?
posted on 30/6/14
comment by UnitedRedMacca - First with the news!! (U2024)
posted 2 hours, 53 minutes ago
comment by IAmMe (U18491)
posted 13 minutes ago
comment by Busbybabes (U9083)
posted 4 hours, 20 minutes ago
Christ, Rodriguez scores a blinder and is suddenly the hottest property in world football.
Even before Saturday's game he has played well in the group stages, yet there was nothing on these boards about him.
He's a good player, with potential but at the moment that's all it is. How often do we see players have a brilliant season and fall by the wayside, especially South Americans.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
spot on
but you know, when dealing with those with unformed thinking skills that populate these boards, you should expect nothing less (or more).
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Are you as strange in real life as you are on the internet?
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No, but he's probably just as stupid.