Transfer gaffe by Ferguson revealed.
Manchester United supposedly turned down the chance to sign Colombian World Cup star James Rodriguez for just £5m in 2010, moving instead to bring in Portuguese flop Bebe for £7.4m, according to the Guardian.
Bebe, who has just completed a third consecutive season out on loan, is notably one of the club’s worst signings in recent years and one of the most surprising of the Sir Alex Ferguson era, with the United boss known to have brought him in on something of a whim after only seeing a small number of videos of him playing.
This will go down as an even bigger transfer market mistake now, with the news that at around the same the Red Devils could have landed themselves one of the best up-and-coming talents in world football for a bargain £5m.
The Monaco winger has been arguably the stand-out player of this summer’s World Cup, with the 22-year-old currently leading the scoring charts after some scintillating displays for surprise package Colombia.
This has led to plenty of interest from some of Europe’s big clubs in signing him this summer, but United could have paid a measly fee for a superb talent who would surely now be valued at over £40m.
Rodriguez’s agents had been keen to move him to Europe in 2010 whilst he was still at Argentine club Banfield, but after not hearing a response from United, the attacking midfielder instead made the move to Porto, where his fine form later saw him complete a big-money move to Monaco.
SEE ALSO: The Fastest Players on Fifa 14