I don't believe that either. These things often get lost in translation or are taken too literally. how many times have you used the phrase "never heard of them" but didn't mean it literally? Paul Merson claimed he had never heard of Yaya Toure when we signed him despite him winning the champions league, obviously he had. If ge grew up watching Ronaldo and Rivaldo playing at Barcelona he almost certainly saw them play against Sevilla. He may not have been overly familiar or cared about them but he'd have heard of them.
Anyway, enough of this. He'll be an absolutely immense signing, honestly the most excited about him than any other player we've either signed or been strongly linked with so far this summer.