Bebé was raised in an orphanage, having spent part of his childhood living on the streets. He was given the nickname by his older brother, which means baby in Portuguese. He is the son of Cape Verdean immigrants and is now the third player of Cape Verdean descent to play with United; the others are Portuguese international winger Nani and former Swedish international Henrik Larsson.
Bebé had previously lived at the Casa do Gaiato shelter. During his time there, he and seven other residents of the shelter were invited to play for the CAIS team in the 2009 European Street Football Festival in the Bosnian town of Foca.Despite Bebé scoring 40 goals in six matches, CAIS did not progress beyond the second group stage of the tournament.
It was alleged that Bebé had participated in the Homeless World Cup, but these reports were found to be false. He was considered for selection for the national homeless squad after his performance in the European Street Football Festival, but he ultimately did not play in the tournament.
On 11 August 2010, only five weeks after he signed for Vitória de Guimarães, Manchester United agreed an undisclosed fee with the Portuguese club for the transfer of Bebé. The fee was reported to be around £7.4 million, believed to be the value of the buy-out clause in the forward's contract. It was also reported that Real Madrid and Benfica were interested in him. Bebé was recommended to Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson by Portugal national team coach Carlos Queiroz, Ferguson's former assistant. Ferguson only met him the day before the transfer. On 12 August 2010, David Gill stated that Bebé will not be sent out on loan and that he will join up with the first-team squad to prove himself and to learn English. The transfer was completed on 16 August, following Bebé's medical and the submission of the appropriate paperwork, and he was unveiled to the media at a press conference the following day, along with fellow new signings Javier Hernández and Chris Smalling.
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