Oh Bébé, Bébé

Just because a player is Portuguese and demonstrates great talent for one season, it does not necessarily mean that it is ideal to have Benfica sign that player. The player in which I speak of is Tiago Manuel Dias Correia otherwise known as Bébé. He is 24 years old, born in Cacém, Portugal and has played for such teams as; Estrela De Amadora, Vitória De Guimaraēs, Besiktas, Rio Ave, and Paços De Ferreira. I also forget to mention that he has played for and currently belongs to Manchester United. Last season was his best season as he was on loan to Paços De Ferreira scoring 11 goals in 27 league matches which made him the 7th best scorer in the Liga Zon Sagres tied with Rodrigo(Benfica), and Evandro (Estoril).

Although last season may of been his best in terms of goal scoring, his most memorable point of his career occurred in the summer of 2010 in which Bébé had recently joined Vitória De Guimaraēs from second division Estrela De Amadora on a free transfer and was scouted by Carlos Queiroz to join the almighty Manchester United.  Bébé arrived at Old Trafford on August 12, 2010 for a £7.4 million transfer fee (United met the €9 million release clause of Vitória De Guimaraēs)  Sir Alex Ferguson had never seen or heard of the player until the day upon his arrival at Old Trafford. Before he was scouted the young talent scored 5 goals in 6 pre-season matches.

Although the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani were able to leave Portugal and make an impact at Manchester United in the BPL, Bébé failed to do so and is now considered a Ferguson "Flop" over the recent years. He only wore the Manchester United jersey a few times during cup games and has yet played a single league game before constantly being loaned out on three seperate occasions. Bébé is on contract until the summer of 2015 in which at this point "The Red Devils" are hoping to make back some of their money spent on the Portuguese Forward.

Bébé appears now to be rumoured on his way to Benfica. It is true that although he was not the top goal scorer in the league, he was the top Portuguese born scorer throughout the 2013/14. Although this was quite an achievement, it did not gain him a spot on the 2014 Portugal Men's National Team nor has it given any sort of spot on Louis Van Gaal's 2014/15 pre-season Manchester United squad.

With the likes of Rodrigo being sold, Cardozo on his way out, Funes Mori on a loan to Turkey, if acquired would the opportunity be given to Bébé to shine at Benfica? Let's not forget Benfica still has the likes of Lima who is just shy of 31 and was Benfica's top goal scorer last season with a lot more to offer. Nélson Oliveira appears to be back at Benfica and if him and his dad keep their mouths shut, we may very well see Oliveira get an almost leading role at Benfica throughout 2014/15. Let us not forget Benfica has just signed Derley (Maritimo), Victor Andrade (Santos) Daniel Candeias (Nacional), and have the likes of Pizzi (Depotivo),  Ivan Cavaleiro, Salvio, Enzo and a few others who can not only score goals but can assist on them as well. The argument can be made that Benfica has a deep enough bench for now but we are not sure with less then one week away that there is enough talent to get those goals and win games throughout the 2014/15. This argument will be answered shortly as we witness Benfica go through an extensive pre-season 

Would The Benfica Nation like to see another Portuguese talent join Benfica for 2014/15? I would say most definitely. Although Benfica has sold Ezequiel Garay, and Lazar Markovic recieving over €30 Million to go out and spend money on another forward may be far fetched (unless the price is right) but if let's say Manchester United offered Bébé as part of a trade (United gives Benfica €20 Million and Bébé for the services of Nico for example) then his transfer may be more appealing. 

There is no doubting that there is talent in Bébé and potential for him to do well at Benfica but only if it makes sense financially and if JJ is able to integrate him into the squad. His story is most definitely a touching one as he came from poverty and found soccer as a way to get him out of trouble. My only concern is that Benfica gets stuck with another Yannick Djaló or Ariza Makukula (Currently free agent) who were Portuguese players with great potential and were acquired because they were Portuguese and ended up getting burned at Benfica playing little to no games and also getting little to no calls to the Seleção. 

One good year in the Portuguese League does not make a player great. Bébé although was talked about often during his youth and has potential he is not yet great. If Benfica wants a player who is consistent and can score goals for them then Éder should be on their radar. He is 26 years old and although he had a poor performance with the Seleção, so did the other 22 players. Éder has scored 16 goals in 31 league caps during his last 2 seasons at Sporting De Braga but if Benfica want his services he may go for a hefty €7-8 Million. Rafa Silva although more of a winger/ 10 type of player is young, Portuguese, scored 9 goals in 32 games for Braga in all competitions last season but may go for €4-5 Million. 

The transfer season has only just begun and whomever arrives at The Luz or departs from it is still partially unknown. The only thing for certain is that the 2014/15 season is upon us and after the terrific treble of 2013/14 Benfica will have their work cut out for them competing to win a "Doubradinho" against what looks like to be a competiitive Sporting side lead by the brilliant young mind of Marco Silva and a tiki taka influnced FC Porto lead by Julen Lopetegui.