Bebé exclusive: ’If I could go back in time I would change a lot of things about my time at Man Utd... everything happened so fast'
In late January, as the Spanish transfer window neared its conclusion, an incoming call from an old friend took Bebé by surprise. It was Paco Jémez. "From the first moment I called him, he told me he was coming," says Jémez with a wry smile.
Bebé was under contract at Segunda Division side Racing de Ferrol when the phone rang that day but within hours, an agreement was reached to terminate his deal at the Estadio Municipal da Malata with immediate effect.
Ultimately, he wanted to fulfill a promise to the man who "changed everything" when times were tough.
A two-and-a-half hour flight from Galicia to the Balearic Islands followed and a short car journey later, the Portuguese winger was reunited with Jémez for a third spell – this time with Spanish third-tier outfit UD Ibiza.
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"He was the coach who really believed in me," Bebé tells SPORTbible at the club’s training ground, which sits close to the famous Playa d’en Bossa beach. “I'll stick with him. He's the person in football that has given me the most."
Their reunion was described by one fan on social media as being Spain's version of The Last Dance.
A decade ago, Bebé was eight clubs deep when he joined Rayo Vallecano on a six-month loan. At a time when he needed guidance, Jémez stepped in as the perfect mentor, instilling some belief into a player drained of confidence at the age of 24.
Unlike others, the Spaniard dedicated time to spelling out the tactical side of the game, something that never came naturally to Bebé given his unique upbringing. He was also tough but fair — a father figure who came at the perfect time.
His performances improved dramatically as a result. He ended up making 162 appearances in La Liga, something that seemed almost impossible back in 2015, when the haunts of Old Trafford followed his every move. Jémez has been instrumental in that journey.
"Without Paco here, Ibiza would never have considered signing Bebé," says Javi Lara, the club’s sporting director. "Without Paco here, Bebe would never have considered playing for Ibiza."
Since his debut at the start of February, Bebé has three goals and four assists to his name for promotion-chasing Ibiza. He is a man reborn under Jémez. “I’m really enjoying life,” he says. “I plan to stay here for much longer. I'm in a place where I feel comfortable. Life is good again.”
Now in his mid-thirties, the former Manchester United winger has a clear motive as he enters the twilight years of his playing career.
As well as guiding Ibiza to the second-tier, he wants to help others by speaking about his remarkable yet challenging journey. Mistakes? There have been a few. Regrets? Absolutely. But hopefully — after all the ups and downs — he can inspire someone along the way.
“I was a kid who had nothing, who came from the streets, who lived in an orphanage. Suddenly, two months later, I was playing for the best team in the world. In my opinion, there is no other story like mine in the history of football.”
Bebé's journey to this warm Wednesday afternoon on the vibrant island of Ibiza is worthy of an eight-part Netflix series.
After being abandoned by his Cape Verdean parents at a young age, Tiago Manuel Dias Correia was raised by his grandmother, Ilda Romana, in a rundown suburb on the outskirts of Lisbon.
Many children in the area were destined for a life on the streets and, as his two older brothers began to mix with the wrong crowd, Romana made a decision that is almost impossible to imagine.
Told by his grandmother that he was going to a holiday home for the weekend, Bebé was placed in a 15-bed dormitory at the Casa do Gaiato orphanage, a church-run residential facility that housed 150 children from around the world. Some were beaten by their parents, others arrived malnourished after coming from war zones.
It was difficult to comprehend the sheer magnitude of what was happening around him.
"My first day at the orphanage was the worst, but I don't want people to misinterpret that," he tells us. "My grandmother said I was going for a weekend, and I ended up staying for ten years. It was a shock. That first day was tough, but I came to realise it was the best thing she could have done."
"People often ask if I'm upset with her for letting me go, but the truth is this," Bebé says, raising his hand. "It was the best thing that she ever did. That's where I learned everything I know today. I learned how to be a man, how to live by myself, and how to grow up alone. I learned about values and being polite to others.
"I arrived as a kid and left as a man. I am who I am today because of that experience in the orphanage. Thanks to them, I play football for a living."
It was here, on the dusty concrete playground of the Casa do Gaiato orphanage, where Bebé would spend countless hours playing football in its safe confines. He would learn how to read and write at the shelter, and was taught about discipline and religion by director Jose Joao. "I owe him my life and nothing else," he says about Joao.
But ultimately, it was his talent with a ball that changed everything.
Back in May 2009, an 18-year-old Bebé was picked to play for a team representing the homelessness charity CAIS at the European Street Football Festival in Bosnia. He was chosen alongside four girls and four boys from Portugal, and played against different countries from around Europe.
"It changed my life," he smiles. "I scored 40 goals in six games, which naturally brought a lot of interest. Everyone was talking about me. People started to make contact from many different countries."
Newcastle were said to be interested alongside a host of clubs from around Portugal, but Bebé wanted to return to the Casa do Gaiato orphanage – a place where he felt comfortable and protected. He would go on to play for local side Loures, as well as third-division outfit Estrela da Amadora.
However, a move to Guimaraes in 2010 would put his name on the map. After scoring six goals in six pre-season games, an eight-figure offer arrived from Manchester United amid reported interest from Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid.
In the space of a few months, Bebé had gone from playing with his roommates on a tennis court to being courted by one of the world's biggest clubs.
"I was with Guimaraes doing pre-season and a month later, I was at my agent’s house with the president of Manchester United [David Gill] and we were talking about signing a five-year contract," he recalls. "I remember thinking, 'Is this a dream?'."
Picture the scene. It is August 2010 and at a busy restaurant in Guimaraes – a city in northern Portugal – Bebé, his agent and three other friends are having a bite to eat when a breaking news ticker flashes across the TV screen. It reads: 'Bebé signs for Manchester United for 10 million euros’.
Seconds later, a kid shouts, 'He's here!’ as hushed conversations spread across the room. In his own words, it is a moment he will always cherish.
"I had already signed by then but nobody knew anything except for my grandmother," Bebé says. "She was the only person I told and trusted. I stayed up until 11pm and let me tell you, keeping that a secret from my friends, my family, and so on, was difficult. But when it came on TV that I was going to sign for Manchester United... it was special."
The circumstances around his unprecedented arrival were unusual, to say the least. It was the only time in Sir Alex Ferguson's 39-year managerial career that he signed someone without watching them play in the flesh.
"I didn't see any videos of him," Ferguson said at the time. "You've got to trust your staff at times and our scout in Portugal was adamant we must do something quickly. So I sent David Gill down there to do the deal."
There were also suggestions that Ferguson's assistant Carlos Queiroz had recommended his fellow Portuguese, but those rumours were later denied by the man himself. "Bebé was not even part of our scouting files for the national team of Portugal," Queiroz told FourFourTwo. "He didn't exist, in a system where nothing escaped us."
The transfer even led to an investigation by the Portuguese anti-corruption police, but no charges were brought against those involved.
So, what was going through his head when he signed for Manchester United? "Fear is a very strong word, but I felt eager and anxious — very, very anxious to get there and see all the players that I’d watched from my childhood," Bebé remembers.
"I also thought a lot about how it was going to change my life financially, but also that of my siblings, my mother, my grandmother, and so on. I was a kid who had nothing, who came from the streets, who lived in an orphanage, and suddenly, I was playing for the best team in the world."
A short time later, the inexperienced winger received his first call-up to play for Portugal under-21’s alongside Nani. Instead of meeting up with the team beforehand, he spent the night at the Casa do Gaiato orphanage one last time, before the money and fame — to say goodbye properly.
Bebé, who previously admitted he thought United's interest was a practical joke, goes on to describe what it was like in the opening weeks of his time in Manchester.
"I remember meeting Sir Alex Ferguson for the first time," he says. "He came into the dressing room and the first words he said to me were, ‘I am going to take care of you' and 'go and get a haircut.’ I had long hair at the time, so I shaved it off for the second day of training."
For the first time in our interview, Bebé is visibly emotional as he speaks about the Scot. A quick Google search suggests he never quite clicked with his manager given the obvious language barrier, amongst other factors, but that couldn't be further from the truth.
"I learned a lot from him," says Bebé. "I always had to have a translator, so he could explain things to me, but we shared a close relationship. I felt he had a lot of affection towards me. He looked out for me, and that meant a lot.
"I was in a completely new country and he went above and beyond. I lived in his apartment in Wilmslow for the first year, so I was a little closer to training. He joked with me, and I joked with him. The truth is, he is a person I care a lot about. I would love to see him again and have a chat, like old times."
Things didn't turn out the way Bebé, or Manchester United, would have hoped. He ended up making just seven first-team appearances for United, which were all in his first season, before being loaned out to Besiktas, Rio Ave and Pacos de Ferreira.
Perhaps the most infamous moment from his spell came in a Premier League game against Wolves, when he was brought on in the 10th minute before being substituted midway through the second half following a poor display that included a number of wayward crosses.
Ultimately, the winger had been thrown in at the deep end. He was overwhelmed.
"Everything happened so fast," Bebé says. "One minute I was playing street football, the next I was at Manchester United. I had no experience.
"Deep down, I knew I wasn't going to get the chances I really wanted but it was an opportunity I couldn't say no to. If I’d stayed for one more year in Guimaraes, I’d have gained more experience and played more often, which would have helped my development, but then I probably wouldn't have had the opportunity to go to United."
With a far more mature head on his shoulders, Bebé looks back at his time at United with some regret.
"I think the transfer changed a lot of things," he adds. "I started earning more money and I was playing for a very well-known team. I was famous, I had everything. I don't know... it doesn't mean that I changed as a person, but I didn’t put in as many hours — or wasn’t focused enough in training – as I should have been.
"I should have been more professional. I should have taken more advantage of the opportunity. I regret not working harder."
If he could go back in time, would he do anything differently?
"I would change a lot of things," he says. "I think I would dedicate myself more to football. I would take advantage of the moment, and take the opportunities given to me. When I was in England, I wanted to take advantage of it in a different way. I would go back and dedicate more hours of my life to football.
"Right now, I'm 34 years old and put way more effort than before. I'm more focused but I was also young back then, right? For some people that comes with age. But yes. I’d go back and work on everything, both physically and psychologically, so I was prepared for big moments. I wasted a lot of time on nonsense."
For some time, Bebé's failures at Manchester United lingered like a bad smell.
He left Old Trafford for Benfica in 2014 before spending an unsuccessful six-month loan spell in La Liga with Cordoba, where he failed to find the net in 18 appearances. But his fortunes changed in the summer of 2015, when Paco Jémez and Rayo Vallecano took a chance.
Jémez identified a rough diamond when Bebé walked through the doors at the Estadio de Vallecas. Almost a decade on and those feelings remain.
"I've already managed him and I know what he can give us," Jémez says. "He comes with me with a lot of desire and with added responsibility. He's exactly the kind of player we need and I'm very happy."
After such a tempestuous career in the game, Bebé is happier than ever as he embarks on a new challenge.
"I’m really enjoying life in Ibiza, both on and off the pitch," he smiles. "It’s an ambitious club that is growing; there’s a lot going on. I plan to stay here for much longer because I'm in a place where I feel comfortable. Every day, I enjoy life to the fullest because I don't know how much longer I'll be able to play."
"I've started to think about life after football lately," Bebé adds. "I would like to help out as an assistant to a sporting director. I enjoy being in the players' day-to-day lives and I think I’m an approachable person. I could teach them what you should and shouldn’t do based on my experiences.
"What I do know is that I want to continue to inspire by telling my story. I hope people can be inspired by my career and experiences, and what I've been through. I hope children who have a dream can see this interview and think, ‘I can do it too’.”
Topics: Sir Alex Ferguson, Premier League, Portugal, Benfica, Spain, Man Utd
Jack Kenmare