Bebé

Early career

Having previously played for amateur side Loures, Bebé was signed by Segunda Divisão side Estrela da Amadora in the summer of 2009. Regarded as the club's star player, he finished the season with four goals in 26 league matches. However, Estrela were beset by financial problems and offered him around Europe for £125,000 but found no takers. His former agent, Gonçalo Reis, revealed that Bebé was offered to PSV Eindhoven for free in May 2010, but PSV turned down the offer as they did not know anything about the player. As their situation worsened, they stopped paying his wages, so he broke his contract and signed for Portuguese Primeira Liga team Vitória de Guimarães in the summer of 2010, on a free transfer. His contract with Guimarães at first included a €3 million release clause, but this was increased to €9 million following his performances in pre-season games. He finished with five goals in six friendly matches.

Manchester United

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, though reports in Portugal later claimed the fee was €9 million, of which the agent company GestiFute received €3.5 million and the club received €5.5 million, as third-party ownership was allowed in Portugal. It was also…

In August 2010, Bebé was called up to the Portugal under-21 squad for the first time, for their 2011 European under-21 qualifiers against England and Macedonia in early September. He made his debut playing as a striker in their 1–0 loss to England on 3 September. He then scored his first goal for the under-21 side three days later in their final qualifying game against Macedonia, scoring the first in a 3–1 win. On 9 August 2011, while playing for Portugal under-21 team in a friendly match against Slovakia, Bebé suffered a cruciate ligament injury to his left knee and he was expected to be out for six months. Without the possibility of being considered by the Portugal senior team, in January 2019, Bebé expressed his interest in being part of the Cape Verde national team and announced that he had initiated the documentary procedures for it, given his Cape Verdean ancestry. He expected to play the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations with Cape Verde but was ultimately not called up. On 16 March 2022, he received his first international call-up for the Cape Verde national team. He debuted with Cape Verde in a 2–0 friendly win over Guadeloupe, scoring his side's second goal in the 50th minute on his debut.

2023 Africa Cup of Nations

In December 2023, Bebé was named in Cape Verde's squad for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in the Ivory Coast. He made his AFCON debut in the team's opening fixture – a 2–1 win over Ghana – on 14 January 2024. In the team's second match, Bebé opened…

Club

As of match played 25 May 2024

International

As of match played 19 November 2024

Scores and results list Cape Verde's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Bebé goal.

Bebé is the son of Cape Verdean immigrants and is the fifth player of Cape Verdean descent to join Manchester United; the others are Portuguese international wingers Nani and Cristiano Ronaldo, French international left-back Patrice Evra and former Swedish international Henrik Larsson. He was given his nickname, which means 'baby' in Portuguese, by his older brother. Bebé was abandoned as a young child by his father Francisco and his mother Deolinda. He was consequently raised by his grandmother in a suburb of Lisbon, until the age of 12, when a court placed him in the care of the church. He moved to the Casa do Gaiato shelter in Santo Antão do Tojal, 20 km outside Lisbon. 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 Foča. Despite Bebé scoring four goals in six matches, CAIS did not progress beyond the second group stage of the tournament. 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.