Once described as the “worst Premier League signing of all time”, Angolan striker Manucho must now be hoping to stick two fingers up to those who categorised him alongside the likes of Andy Goram, Bebe, and Eric Djemba-Djemba (so bad they named him twice!) as one of Fergie’s stinkers. 

Now plying his trade at Real Valladolid, the Angolan is quite comfortably “doing a Forlan” and excelling in La Liga after a tough period at Manchester United.
It’s a popular career path these days. Just ask Giuseppe Rossi!

With 21 in 38 for the Angola national side, this is clearly a man who knows how to hit the back of the net, no matter what Hull City fans say. And though it’s not been an easy path for Manucho up until this point, you can only feel that with 4 goals in 9 La Liga outings this term, (at the time of writing), this could be a breakthrough season for the big African.

So far this term, Valladolid are proving to be something of a surprise package. On an unbeaten home run of 6 games at the time of publishing, including a valiant draw against ex-champions Valencia, and with a respectable 18 points from 13 games.

They now sit only 11 points behind reigning ‘campiones’ Real Madrid; and for a side only promoted to La Liga through last season’s Segunda play-offs, that’s quite a feat.

Make no mistake, Valladolid is a club with history. This is a side whose former managers include notable alumni including Fernando Redondo and Rafael Benitez.

Spurred on by the goals of Manucho, current boss Miroslav Dukic will no doubt be hoping to mastermind a future even brighter than their past.