MANCHESTER UNITED CAPTAIN Gary Neville says he hopes the public interest surrounding the club’s Portuguese summer signing, Bebé, will die down so that the new signing will have a chance to adjust to the club at his own pace.

United famously bought the winger for a reported £7.4m (€8.7m) earlier this summer after just five weeks on the books at Vitoria de Guimaraes, despite manager Sir Alex Ferguson famously admitting he had not seen the 20-year-old play in person.

It had been speculated that Old Trafford staff had been disappointed with his initial performances in training – so much so that reserve coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer did not choose him for a number of high-profile reserve fixtures.

Neville told the Daily Mirror, however, that he was happy to see the Portuguese made his senior debut during United’s 5-2 Carling Cup win at Scunthorpe last week.

It was good to see Bebé get his first taste of first-team action; United have signed lots of youngsters in recent years – [Cristiano] Ronaldo, [Federico] Macheda, the Da Silvas [twins Fabio and Rafael] – so I don’t understand the fuss about Bebé. It’s a bit unfair on him.

He has a lot of raw talent, two great feet, he’s extremely quick and he’s learning all the time.

Ferguson has still not seen Bebé play in person, having missed the Carling Cup tie to travel to Spain to scout Champions League opponents Valencia who they meet on Wednesday night.

Ryan Giggs will miss the midweek match, having been taken off during Sunday’s 2-2 draw after a hamstring strain, while out-of-sorts striker Wayne Rooney looks set to overcome an ankle knock.

United have also, this morning, been linked with a move to bring Atletico Madrid forward Diego Forlan back to Old Trafford, where he spent two off-form years between 2002 and 2004.