'I left Man Utd with out speaking to the supervisor – it's one of the best resolution I ever made'
Manchester United tackle Fulham at Craven Cottage this weekend, with former Crimson Devils midfielder Andreas Pereira trying to make his mark towards his outdated group
Andreas Pereira revealed he dodged a dialog with Erik ten Hag to power by way of his exit from Manchester United. The Brazilian, who now performs for Fulham, insisted it was one of the best resolution of his profession as he sought common first-team soccer and a way of being "liked" by followers.
Pereira left for Fulham in 2022, with the London membership snapping him up in a £8.6million (rising to £10m) deal. Ten Hag had solely simply arrived at Previous Trafford, however after years of restricted alternatives underneath earlier managers, Pereira wasn't keen to attend and see if his fortunes would enhance underneath the brand new boss.
After three consecutive mortgage spells, Pereira noticed Fulham – United's Premier League opponents this Sunday – providing him the steadiness he had been lacking. It was a chance he felt he couldn't flip down.
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"This was once I got here again to England [after my loan]," Pereira instructed United legend Rio Ferdinand on his Rio Ferdinand Presents present. "Erik ten Hag, he labored at PSV once I was 16 years outdated.
"Earlier than leaving for United, the [PSV] president and Erik ten Hag got here to talk to me and my dad and stated, 'Look the whole lot is ready up for you at PSV, should you keep right here you're going to play within the first group'. However I'd simply been to United and spoke with Fergie. I used to be like, 'I'm going to United'.
"That's why I didn't need to converse to Erik as a result of I knew him and I knew that, on the time, it was all the time a dialog, like, 'Andreas, keep right here. You're not going to play each sport, perhaps one sport in each three, you'll be across the squad'. That's not what I wished, I wished to play."
Pereira, 29, got here by way of United's youth ranks after becoming a member of from PSV Eindhoven in 2011, making 75 appearances for the primary group. Nevertheless, his time on the membership was marked by inconsistency and stints on the sidelines, with mortgage spells at Granada, Valencia, Lazio, and Flamengo limiting his alternatives underneath varied managers.
Upon coming back from a profitable interval in Brazil with Flamengo in 2022, Pereira was decided to depart completely. The choice wasn't straightforward, as Pereira admitted to second-guessing himself amid the status of staying on the Theatre of Desires.
"Leaving United, you're like, 'Am I actually going to do that? Am I positive?' Ultimately, you're by no means 100 per cent positive, actually. Generally you suppose keep and have one other go. Different instances, it’s important to go away," he stated.
A key issue was his want for constant minutes, coupled with a craving to reconnect together with his Brazilian roots. He practically joined Everton earlier than choosing Flamengo on mortgage.
"I wished to play, after COVID, I wished to play. I used to be going loopy, desirous to play within the Premier League. I wished to point out that I used to be ok, I used to be very near becoming a member of [Everton] and instantly my father known as me and stated, ‘Andreas, you by no means performed in Brazil, you're Brazilian,'" Pereira recalled.
"I wished to play in Brazil and need to really feel liked. I didn't really feel the love that I assumed I ought to get. I wished to really feel liked by my very own folks, play near my household and luxuriate in soccer."
Regardless of warnings from United workers {that a} transfer to Brazil may finish his European profession – "Everybody at United stated, 'You're loopy, you'll keep in Brazil, you'll by no means come again to Europe'," – Pereira proved them incorrect. He returned to the Premier League with Fulham, the place he has flourished underneath Marco Silva.
In 119 appearances, he has contributed 10 targets and 22 assists, turning into a midfield linchpin and even drawing curiosity from Chelsea, who eyed him as a substitute for Conor Gallagher in 2024. In three years on the West London membership he's been overlooked of simply eight Premier League video games – with six of these as a result of an ankle harm in 2023.
He was, nevertheless, an unused sub in Fulham's opening day draw with Brighton final weekend. The Cottagers snatched a degree late on because of an injury-time equaliser scored by Rodrigo Muniz.
Sunday's conflict with United not solely gives Pereira the prospect to work his method again into the beginning XI, but additionally to show a degree to his former membership and reveal how far he's come. His daring option to sidestep Ten Hag and search a contemporary begin has paid dividends, reworking him from a United fringe participant right into a Premier League mainstay.
As the 2 groups lock horns this night, Pereira's story serves as a testomony to the worth of betting on oneself -even if it means leaving a large like Manchester United behind.
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