There was a bizarre story ahead of last night’s game when a little-known Portuguese striker called Betinho was named on the Premier League’s website as a Manchester United player.
The Premier League have since removed the profile page, which had claimed Betinho had been a United player since 2019.
The forward was listed as United’s number 11, The Mail reported, and had supporters intrigued to find out why, and who he is.
The incident is being put down to a clerical error on the Premier League website, The Athletic report.
Who is Betinho?
Even amid Manchester United’s need for a striker, Betinho is not a solution the club would turn to.
He is 29 and plays for Portuguese third tier club Espinho. He began his career with Sporting and had a brief loan with Brentford in 2014, where he played once.
The former Portugal under-21 international striker has not hit double figures for any club he has played for, barring Sporting B, report Transfermarkt.
So while there is no clear reason why he was listed as a United player, we can be pretty certain he won’t be Old Trafford-bound.
Betinho responds
Betinho has been made aware of the news and responded with some amusement. He sent a couple of messages on his Instagram story reel, joking ‘see you soon’ to Portuguese compatriots Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot.
He also added a laughter emoji, while also sharing a mock-up in a Manchester United kit.
Manchester United will hopefully sign a striker before the January 2023 transfer window comes to a close.
The club have shown some desperation levels here before, moving for Odion Ighalo in 2020. While another emergency solution could be called on this time around, we don’t think Betinho should be expecting a call.
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