Bebe once had Man Utd contract 'leaked' which showed massive signing-on fee

Bebe once had his Manchester United contract 'leaked' - and it showed he agreed to a massive signing-on fee to move to Old Trafford.

The winger joined United from Vitoria de Guimaraes in 2010, having signed for the Portuguese club on a free transfer just weeks earlier.

United paid a fee of £7.2 million for Bebe's services, with manager Sir Alex Ferguson admitting he had only heard of the 20-year-old the day before the signing.

Bebe was a recommendation of Ferguson's former assistant Carlos Queiroz, who had left the club two years earlier and was managing the Portugal national team at the time.

But he made just seven appearances for United, all in his first season, before being loaned out to Besiktas, Rio Ave and Pacos de Ferreira.

Bebe, therefore, didn't make a single appearance under the management of David Moyes, and left the club to join Benfica on a free transfer in the summer of 2014.

Now 33, Bebe is playing for La Liga side Rayo Vallecano, and hit the headlines after scoring a 40-yard free kick for Cape Verde against Mozambique during the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations.

It was his sixth goal for Cape Verde, with the Portuguese-born forward debuting for the nation in 2022 through his Cape Verdean heritage as both of his parents were born in the country.

In 2016, the website 'Football Leaks' posted a copy of the contract that Bebe originally signed when he joined United in 2010.

The contract, which was shared by Goal, showed that Bebe agreed to a significant signing-on bonus as part of his initial move.

It showed that United agreed to pay Bebe a signing-on fee of £500,000, spread across the four years of his contract.

He received his first payment of £100,000 from the club on August 31, 2010, with the remaining money arriving at yearly intervals.

There were other clauses contained in the contract, including the following clause relating to the club's in-house broadcaster, MUTV: 'The Player agrees that MUTV shall be entitled to exchange material relating to the Player at no cost with another broadcaster in return for material owned by the other broadcaster, including, without limitation, interviews, international press conferences and archive material."

While Bebe didn't give too many interviews to MUTV given his lack of playing time, the signing-on bonus was exactly that upon his arrival - a huge bonus.

Featured Image Credit: Getty

Topics: Manchester United, Premier League, Football

Ryan Smart

Live in constant hope of the top flight as a Preston North End fan. Written in the past for SPORF, GiveMeSport and more.