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Former Manchester United midfielder Andreas Pereira has hinted that he didn’t feel loved at his former club.
The Brazil international joined the side in 2011 as a youth product and made his first team debut in 2014 under Louis van Gaal.
The midfielder would go on to play 75 times for the Old Trafford side and score four goals. However, he rarely played consistently in the first team and was regularly sent out on loan to Granada, Lazio, Valencia and Flamengo.
He was eventually sold to Fulham in 2022 for a fee of £10m with add-ons.
Luckily, the 28 year old has taken to life in London like a duck to water and has been revitalised under Marco Silva.
He has played 78 times for the Cottagers in less than two seasons and his development can be highlighted in his recent call up for Brazil against England and his two goals against West Ham at the weekend.
Speaking on Rio Ferdinand’s VIBE with FIVE YouTube channel, he opened up on his time at Old Trafford.
Reflecting on his time in Manchester he claimed, “sometimes it’s not the right time at the right club. Some things don’t go well for you, it doesn’t mean you’re a s–t player”.
Pereira went on to claim he was far from the only player who failed to live up to expectations at the pressure cooker of Manchester United. When asked to name a specific case, he mentioned the controversial Angel Di Maria.
“I’ve seen it with a lot of players at Man United, big names that come and then don’t play well. For me, Angel Di Maria. From the first session, he was unbelievable”.
“He arrived from the Champions League final, being the best player, after the first session everyone said we would win the league. This guy was amazing”.
“The Leicester goal… When he did the dink and the heart (celebration) after… Then you know what happened. It was crazy. He didn’t adapt. Then the thing happened with this family. I was thinking, ‘how can this kind of player not play at United?’ – so the pressure is there”.
Pereira then seemingly took a swipe at his former club by claiming that he didn’t feel the affection that he felt he should have during his time in Manchester.
“After Covid, I wanted to play. I was going crazy. I wanted to show I was good enough. I was very close to joining Everton. Suddenly, my father called me and told me I had never played in Brazil. I was thinking, ‘Where do we go then?’ – then the president of Flamengo called my dad and said if he wants to come, he can come”.
“I said let’s go to Flamengo. Everyone at United said I was crazy, that I would stay in Brazil and I would never come back to Europe. [But] I wanted to play in Brazil”.
“I wanted to feel loved. I didn’t feel the love I thought I should get. I wanted to feel the love, from my own people, be close to my family and enjoy my football”.
Not many eyelids were batted when Pereira was sold but United’s midfield woes this season, combined with his own fine displays, perhaps shows that the Red Devils were too hasty in getting rid of the academy product.
It is fair to say that the Brazilian could certainly have been a useful bench option to have in this testing season.
Perhaps he is better suited to lesser degree of spotlight at Craven Cottage and is certainly benefitting from regular game time that he would not be guaranteed at Old Trafford.
Nonetheless, it is always an uplifting story when a former academy product can show off their talent, even if it is in life after United.
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