My nan tricked me into living in orphanage before breaking into football… I landed big break with Man Utd but got lost
A FORMER Manchester United flop has revealed how his grandma “tricked” him into spending 10 years in an orphanage.
After the ace was spotted at the Homeless World Cup in 2010, Sir Alex Ferguson stumped up £7.4million to sign Tiago Manuel Dias Correia, nicknamed Bebe.
The now 33-year-old Portuguese attacker was recommended to him by No2 Carlos Queiroz.
Sir Alex activated the player’s release clause at Vitoria Guimaraes despite having NEVER seen him play.
However, the ultimate rags to riches fairytale never materialised and ended with Bebe being regularly labelled one of the biggest failures in the Premier League‘s history.
He departed in 2014 having made just seven senior appearances in four years and when he found out he was being sold to Benfica he said it was the “best moment of my life”.
Despite his failure to make it on the big stage at Old Trafford, the fact he even got to play for the Red Devils given his early upbringing is a remarkable feat.
Bebe spent almost a decade in a homeless shelter after being abandoned by his parents – but now he says he was tricked into going there.
He and his family grew up on the outskirts of Lisbon under the guidance of his grandmother, but with his two older brothers starting to get into trouble, she feared that Bebe would go the same way.
And he told ESPN that led her to making a difficult choice, saying: “She tricked me. She took advantage of the fact that I was the youngest, and she put me in an orphanage.
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“At first, she told me I was going to a holiday home. She said I’d be there Friday, Saturday and Sunday. And I was there for 10 years.
“Imagine. Nine-years-old. I was just nine-years-old when I got there.
“All kinds of things happened there. Serious things, things a child shouldn’t see or hear … but [the people there] were also my friends. My best friends are five or six people who lived there with me. They were my family.
“Everything that I have today, I learnt there, from my friends, the people who were there who helped me.”
Luckily for him he came through that ordeal to finally land his big break at United – but he admits that he got completely lost after the dream transfer.
“Imagine what was going through my head,” said Bebe.
“From having nothing to being at the top. I felt a bit lost. I had just signed the contract, and we went for dinner. On the television screen in the restaurant, I saw ‘Bebé signs for Manchester United for 10 million euros.’
“The restaurant was full. A kid walks past, he looks at me, and starts shouting ‘He’s here! He’s here!’
“I called my grandmother. I told her, and she started to cry. I called my friends, and they thought it was a joke. It was a dream. It all happened so fast.”
He added: “The most shocking thing was meeting Ferguson. I went into his office, and the first thing he did was grab my head, he gave me a hug and a kiss.
“He said to me: ‘From now on, you’re my child. I’m going to look after you.’ I was looking at him thinking, ‘Is this really happening?’
“The next day, I got to the dressing room. I was sat here, and then it was [Rio] Ferdinand. Anderson. [Wayne] Rooney. [Antonio] Valencia. Michael Carrick. Chicharito. Paul Scholes. [Ryan] Giggs. [Edwin] Van der Sar. They were all there.”
Even though Bebe did manage to score in back to back games against Wolves and Bursaspor in the Champions League, it soon became apparent he did not have what it takes to cut the mustard alongside his star-studded team-mates.
After starting only three games for the club and then loans at Besiktas, Rio Ave and Pacos de Ferreira, he left for Benfica in 2014 for £2.4m.
Things failed to work out for him back in his homeland either as he made just six appearances before being shipped out on loan to La Liga sides Cordoba – that produced no goals in 18 games – and Rayo Vallecano – where he got three in 34 league games.
In 2016 it was Eibar offering him a permanent Spanish home and he lasted 18 months there and grabbed three goals and four assists in 29 La Liga outings.
He returned in January 2018 to Vallecano on loan in the Spanish second-tier and he helped them to secure a return to the top flight.
That earned him a permanent deal there and he is still turning out for the Madrid-based club in LaLiga these days despite spending the second half of last term on loan at Real Zaragoza.
He can even call himself a full international now.
Bebe was called-up for African nation Cape Verde in March 2022, who he qualifies for through his ancestry, and celebrated his debut with a goal in a 2-0 win over Guadeloupe.
He has gone on to score another five times for his adopted nation in his 14 caps.