Let’s start this story from the beginning. Back in June 2015, Bernard Mensah’s transfer to Manchester United was said to be ‘imminent’ by the Portuguese press.
Just like you now, we had no idea who Bernard Mensah was at the time. He’s an attacking midfielder from Vitória Guimarães, and as Manchester United had been scouting his club that season, Jornal de Notícias said his move to Old Trafford would happen at any time.
We thought it could be some play by Jorge Mendes, who mentioning the English club, could be pushing other clubs to step up their interest in the player.
Unsurprisingly, Manchester United never signed him, but another big club did. Atletico Madrid bought the midfielder for €6m that window and immediately loaned him out to Getafe. At the end of the spell, they sent him back to Vitória de Guimarães on another year-loan. He never had a chance to officially play for Atletico and is currently in Portugal.
And here’s our deja-vu. Last week, Manchester United have sent scouts to the Portuguese league tie between Vitória de Guimarães and Belenenses.
As A Bola didn’t know who the scout was keeping an eye on, they said United were looking for a ‘new Bebé’ at the club, because the Jorge Mendes client also made his way from Guimarães to Manchester back in 2010.
A few rumours have started to appear, including from Ghana Soccer, saying Manchester United’s target at Vitória’s matches is Bernard. The idea behind the interest stems almost entirely from the Mendes connection.
So a quick 2+2 has led to 5, and Jorge Mendes has offered him to the club, according to Calcio Mercato.
They point out Mendes is also the agent of José Mourinho, so he’s been heavily advising the manager to sign the 21-year-old Ghanaian international. The story has been growing slowly, with sources from different countries all trying to believe in the same rumour.
In the end, perhaps A Bola were right. Maybe Manchester United have found a new Bebé after all.
