Football conspiracy theories: A £7.2 million Bebé, Nani, and PEDs
Was Bebé's 2010 transfer to Manchester United actually a dodgy deal to payoff an agent and an international manager?
Before going any further, let me just state that everything within this conspiracy theory is alleged. There is no proof that any of this story is true. It does make for a great conspiracy theory story.
In 2010, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson made headlines when he signed Portuguese forward Bebé for £7.2 million. Ferguson’s dealings in the transfer market, like all managers, were hit and miss over the years. Yet, never before had Ferguson got a signing so wrong in the transfer market.
Once seeing Bebé play, fans couldn’t believe Ferguson had been duped into signing him sight unseen. But what if Bebé’s transfer to Manchester United wasn’t for playing purposes? What if the Portuguese player signed for United due to Ferguson owing someone a favour?
Like all conspiracy theories, there are some wild allegations at play. It cannot be stressed enough that these are just allegations, and nothing has been proven as true.
Not only did Bebé’s transfer to Manchester United turn heads because of the deal, but the 20-year-old had only signed for Portugal’s Vitória de Guimaraes five weeks before moving to Old Trafford. This may not raise too many eyebrows, except Bebé joined Vitória from Portuguese third-division club Estrela da Amadora. Reports from the time of Bebé’s signing claimed Real Madrid were linked to the player’s signature, too.
Standing 6ft 2in tall, the forward joined Estrela after a successful European Street Football Festival tournament in 2009. Bebé was selected for the team while living in a homeless shelter in Portugal. There, he learned football and grew to be a strong grassroots player. It is Bebé’s time at the European Street Football Festival that provides some confusion among fans and media outlets. Perhaps the BBC’s original news story from 2010, which claimed Bebé played at the Homeless World Cup has led to much of the confusion.
He is often credited with playing in the Homeless World Cup, which sparked around the time that United signed him. It is true Bebé grew up in an orphanage on the outskirts of Lisbon. However, he did not appear in that tournament. Instead, Bebé starred at the Street Football Festival, showcasing his skills to a large audience. It is also claimed Bebé scored 40 goals in six games at the tournament, although other sources say it was just four. Discrepancies abound when talking about the player’s early life.
After the 2009 tournament, Bebé joined Estrela for one season. Although playing well enough, no clubs wanted to sign him due to him being an unknown player. With Estrela failing to pay Bebé’s wages, he signed for Vitória before moving to United weeks later. Former Man United coach Carlos Queiroz is often credited with being the man to refer Ferguson to Bebé.
During Bebé’s short spell with Vitória, where he impressed in preseason, super-agent Jorge Mendes’ Gestifute agency signed to represent him. Just 18 months early, Bebé was an unknown and trying to break into professional football. Now, he was signed by one of the biggest sports agencies in the world. Soon, he would join one of the biggest football clubs, too,
This is where we get into football conspiracy theories.
Manchester United forward Nani was included in Queiroz’s 23-man squad for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. However, the United forward withdrew from the team due to a shoulder injury – the extent of which was never made clear – and was sent home not long before the tournament’s start.
According to the conspiracy theory, Nani had performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) in his system ahead of the World Cup after doing a cycle of unknown substances. Mendes knew a drug test was on the horizon for the Portugal national team and leaked information to Queiroz to remove Nani from the squad, so he wouldn’t be tested.
This would mean Nani took the PEDs knowingly and people around him knew about it. Further conspiracy theories allege that Ferguson was made aware of the impending drug test and got his old assistant coach to not only remove Nani from the team but to kick up a fuss with the drug testers sent to the Portugal camp. Queiroz effectively caused a distraction, allowing Nani to slip out the back door and fly back to Manchester.
Had Nani tested positive, he would have likely been suspended for at least one year. It may have also brought Manchester United under investigation. If one player was caught, UEFA and the Premier League may have suspected other United players of using PEDs as well.
Manchester United were grateful that Nani didn’t fail the drug test for PEDs and as a ‘thank you’ to Mendes, signed Bebé for £7.2m. Of that fee, Mendes received a healthy £2.89m straight into his pocket. Mendes was also Queiroz’s agent, and allegedly, the coach received a cut of the transfer fee to make up for being sacked as Portugal's manager. Ferguson showed his gratitude to Queiroz by appearing as a character witness during a hearing with the Portuguese Football Association.
While this is a conspiracy theory, some morsels of evidence indicate some elements of the story could be true. For one, Queiroz was suspended by the Portuguese Anti-Doping Authority in August 2010 for disrupting World Cup procedures.
Moreover, Bebé’s former agent Gonçalo Reis went to FIFA complaining that Mendes’ illegally poached the player just before the deal to United took place. According to a 2012 article in the Guardian, anti-corruption authorities were to question Man United over the deal.
Ferguson famously never saw Bebé play football before signing him. The Portuguese player is claimed to be the only player Ferguson never scouted before signing. He merely took Queiroz’s word. How much Queiroz saw Bebé play before the transfer is open to debate.
Nani’s injury in 2010 was deemed too severe for him to play any part in Portugal’s World Cup despite the tournament not beginning for a few weeks. It was also said that the injury was too severe for Nani to play if the Portugal team reached the knockout stages.
According to the timeline, upon Nani’s return from Portugal’s training camp, he would have only missed the team’s first group stage game and been available for the second and third group matches.
Nani’s fitness was later good enough to start preseason with Manchester United. In the 2010-11 season, Nani played 33 times for United, scoring nine goals. The Red Devils won the Premier League and finished as runner-up in the Champions League, with Nani playing a big part throughout the campaign. Unlike Nani, Bebé did not play much of a part in the season.
Bebé played seven times for United in 2010-11, with two of those appearances coming in the league. The Portuguese player never played another minute of football for Ferguson and United after his first season at the club. After the 2010-11 campaign, Bebé went on loan to Besiktas, Rio Ave, and Pacos de Ferreira. He later joined Benfica, playing six times before being loaned out to Cordoba and Rayo Vallecano. Bebé then bounced around to Eibar, back to Rayo, and in 2022-23, to Real Zaragoza. There, he played 16 games, scoring four times.
Once again, nothing is proven in this case, and everything is alleged. It makes a great conspiracy theory. Obviously, watching Bebé at the time, in his few appearances for United, it was easy to see he was well off the pace of the Premier League and the rest of the Man United squad. But he had only been in professional football for a short time. He was playing in a foreign country having grown up in an orphanage in Lisbon. These elements of Bebé’s life can certainly make up for any poor performances in games or training.
Bebé played a total of 335 minutes in a Man United shirt. He averaged just 47.9 minutes per game at Old Trafford before being shipped out on loan and finally sold. According to a leaked contract, the Portuguese forward earned £900,000 per season and received a £500,000 signing-on fee.
Now 33, Bebé has a contract with Spanish club Rayo Vallecano until 2025. He joined the club in 2018 and has played 166 times for the Red Sashes, scoring 20 goals and assisting 17. Bebé has found a footballing home in Spain either with Rayo or on loan somewhere else.
Bebé is also a Cape Verde international, with 11 caps. It has been quite the career for the former orphan from the outskirts of Lisbon. Was he part of a payment deal to an agent and a coach to help another player get off a suspension for PEDs? No one will ever know for sure. It is only an alleged story for now.