Manchester United are said to be ‘nonplussed’ by a technical error on the Premier League database which claimed Portuguese striker Betinho had been registered with the club.
The Red Devils’ January transfer plans have been dealt a blow by rivals Liverpool moving ahead of them in the race to sign PSV Eindhoven forward Cody Gakpo.
In the hours that followed this news earlier this week, fans became confused when the Premier League website and app appeared to show that United had a new 29-year-old striker on their books by the name of Betinho.
His name and date of birth lined up with that of a former Portugal youth striker now playing in his native country’s lower leagues. He spent a brief period on loan at Brentford during the 2014/15 season.
Speculation grew that United had signed a new striker and even been handed the number 11 shirt without announcing it in order to save face, but The Athletic report this is not the case.
Instead, United are believed to be unimpressed by this error from the Premier League, who have confirmed that a ‘technical issue’ was behind this strange incident.
Betinho has since taken to social media to poke fun at the error, posting pictures on his Instagram story of himself photoshopped into a United shirt and joking that he will ‘see you soon’.
Amid this unprecedented chaos, United swept aside Nottingham Forest 3-0 on Tuesday evening, with Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Fred grabbing the goals for a much-improved Red Devils.