The bizarre reason why 'Betinho' was included in Manchester United's squad

An explanation has been given for why a footballer called 'Betinho' was added to Manchester United's Premier League squad.

There was mass confusion on Tuesday when the Portuguese player was listed as being United's new No.11 on the official Premier League website.

Betinho, aged 29, is in fact a legitimate real-life player for S.C Espinho, who previously turned out for Sporting CP and Brentford.

United aren't believed to be in the market for permanent additions and will only explore loan signings in the January transfer window.

But after the perplexity, it's been confirmed that Betinho, with just 27 career goals to his name, will not be joining the Red Devils.

According to journalist Laurie Whitwell of The Athletic, it was a technical issue which United have informed the Premier League about.

Whitwell wrote: "Suffice to say Manchester United are not signing 'Betinho', the new No 11 named in their squad on the Premier League website. "Nothing to do with the club, who have alerted the Premier League. It's a "technical issue" staff are working to rectify. Bit of mischief it seems."

Several compilations of Betinho in action for various teams started circulating on social media and generating a bit of a buzz online.

Although not exactly prolific, you can see that Betinho has a physical presence and a strong engine. The man himself has been lapping up the attention he's been receiving, posting on social media.

He shared a screenshot of his profile on the Premier League site, and joked he would be seeing compatriots Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot soon.

He wrote: "Thank you @manchesterunited, see you soon. @brunofernandes8 @diogodalot."

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