UNITED Stay or go? Pereira is facing the daddy of dilemmas
ANDREAS Pereira wants to stay at United but his father could yet have a huge say on his future at the club, according to sources close to the player.
The Brazilian went against Jose Mourinho’s wishes last year when he joined Valencia on deadline day after being left out of the first three match-day squads of the season.
M.E.N. Sport understands that while Pereira is represented by agent Giuliano Bertolucci, it is his father, Marcos, a former professional footballer himself, who is the key influence within his inner circle.
Following a previous spell at Granada, Marcos is understood to have advised his son to look elsewhere for the second summer running – much to Mourinho’s displeasure.
Pereira made just 18 starts during his time at the Mestalla, playing exclusively on the wing, and could only watch on as Scott McTominay took his place at United and played in huge games against Sevilla, Chelsea and Liverpool.
The 22-year-old had to come out fighting when he returned for preseason training last month and he has been one of the few shining lights from United’s turbulent tour of the US in a deep-lying midfield role. Pereira started all five of United’s games Stateside, even scoring a brilliant free-kick against Liverpool, and no other player was given more minutes, 443 in total, by Mourinho. While it may feel like history is repeating itself, given how Pereira has impressed on a number of preseason tours in recent years before then choosing to go out on loan, this feels a little different. Nemanja Matic is set to miss the start of the season after undergoing surgery on an abdominal injury so Pereira is in line to make his first ever league start against Leicester next week after seven years on United’s books. And while United have seven central midfielders competing for just three starting positions, Pereira is standing out with his skill set as he looks to fulfil his ‘dream’ of making it at Old Trafford. “People like Nemanja Matic, Marouane Fellaini, Paul Pogba, even Ander Herrera, are physical and strong midfielders,” Mourinho told reporters last month. “We think that players like Fred and Andreas Pereira are more technical, passing and playing in short spaces and maybe connecting with the attacking players.” Ciaran Kelly