Lakshay Khurana
Andreas Pereira
Shirt Number: 44
Position: Midfielder
Age: 20
Height: 5’8
Nationality: Brazil
In 2011, after impressing at the Manchester United Premier Cup, he became a target for a number of big English clubs, counting Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool, but a visit from the then Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson in November 2011 convinced Andreas Pereira to sign for the Old Trafford club.
After signing as an academy scholar in July 2012, Andreas Pereira became a regular in the under-18s in the 2012–13 season, making 20 appearances and scoring five goals.
The Belgian-born footballer was also voted Manchester United’s under-21 player of the year for 2014–15.
In 2015/16 season Andreas Pereira had made two appearances in the Europa league. He also featured in the Champions League once.
Stats 2015/16-
Match Appearances: 11
Minutes Played: 124
Goals: 1 (In League Cup)
Assists: 0
Bookings: 2
Shots Per Game: 0.3
Pass Success Percentage: 82.6%
Andreas Pereira was thought to be a wonder kid with lots of talent in his initial years at Manchester United, but unfortunately, after Sir Alex’s departure from the club, it was expected that he and many youngsters will suffer for a fair chance to prove themselves in the senior team.
David Moyes, Alex Ferguson’s successor as the manager, didn’t seem to be a big fan of the United academy as he didn’t really rely on the youngsters throughout his time being in-charge of the team.
Louis Van Gaal however, did gave many academy graduates a chance, but that was to a very limited one, and mostly because he was out of options to play due to the injury spree which the club was going through.
The 20-year-old is still looking for a fair amount of gameplay for himself to show what he can do on the pitch. He made just 11 appearances last season for Manchester United, playing only 124 minutes just sums up how unfair it has been to him.
He has shined in the under-21 team all these years and it’s about time the Brazilian should be played more if not sold.
Jose Mourinho can probably give Periera a reasonable chance under him and maybe he might end up having someone he was looking for outside the club for a few million pound transfer fee.
