Bebe said in an interview with maisfutebol.iol.pt: '
I never took Manchester United seriously and never understood a word about what Alex Ferguson was saying.
'I thought, "I’m here, I’m doing well and I don’t have to try hard every day. It was my fault. I was messing around too much".'
And he laid bare the communication problems which led to difficulties in his relationship with Ferguson.
'I went into the room and saw that he was looking for me, very concentrated. He told me to cut my hair, it will look better. So I cut it the same day. In the next training session, he didn’t recognise me. I went past him many times and he didn’t know me.
'He didn’t speak much but I didn’t understand much. He has a difficult accent, so I understood nothing.
'He called me "Baby". After I told him it wasn’t like that.'
He also believes that the legacy of Cristiano Ronaldo hanging over the club is to blame for a poor working bond between the manager and winger Nani - and gave a theory behind the famous 'hairdryer treatment'.
'When he shouts at a player it is to help him so he feels he can do more. For example, he shouted at Nani many times. He always found a problem in everything he did. Probably because he thought he could be as good as Cristiano Ronaldo.'
But for all the strife, Bebe does have some fond memories of his time in England.
'One day I passed the ball through Ryan Giggs's legs and he told me, "Go on, go tell your mother you did this to Ryan Giggs".'
He also paid tribute to staff at the club - and to several Portuguese-speaking team-mates who helped him bed in.
'It was incredible. The people at the club helped me a lot - I learned a lot there. The first week was difficult. I was very nervous and I didn’t speak to anyone. I just wanted to be be alone and observe.
'Anderson and Nani helped me most, of course, because they speak Portuguese and Patrice Evra. I lived with Anderson for two months. He showed me the club and the city. I will always be grateful for this.'
The 22-year-old said he thought agent Jorge Mendes was joking about being wanted at Old Trafford.
The move in August 2010 came five weeks after a free transfer to Vitoria de Guimaraes from Portuguese Second Division side Estrela. 'It was all very sudden and unexpected. I was on the train and the club president of Vitoria called me. He said I had to go very quickly to Jorge Mendes’ house.
'When I arrived, Jorge gave me the news, asking, "Do you want to go to Manchester United? Yes? Let’s go." I didn’t believe him. I thought he was joking, honestly.
'I don’t know if the value was right or not but I know that Mr Ferguson believed the information they gave him.'
