Is Andreas Pereira Ready To Play For Jose Mourinho?

In among the excitement — and if we are honest, anxiety — around who Manchester United will acquire during the transfer window, one of the most interesting additions to their squad may risk going under the radar.

Andreas Pereira has returned from a loan spell at Granada, and the signs are he will be given a chance to win a role in Jose Mourinho’s plans for the coming season. Given United’s lack of depth in midfield, this is a welcome development.

It is all the more welcome given Pereira’s success in Spain. Playing in a side relegated with a goal difference of -52, he nevertheless distinguished himself, scoring five goals in 35 league matches — a sixth of the team’s total. That he went to La Liga at all speaks volumes for his character — rather than remain at Old Trafford, he took the risk of going elsewhere for regular football, choosing Granada specifically for the style of football they played. Unlike another of United’s recent young talents, Adnan Januzaj, Pereira had the fortitude to flourish on loan. In doing so, the Brazilian resumed the positive path he had been on a couple of years before, when he won the club’s Under-21 Player of the Year award and made his first team debut under Louis van Gaal.

Should Pereira prove his worth to Mourinho in preseason, he will alleviate some of the burden on Paul Pogba and Ander Herrera in central midfield. Pogba, in particular, showed signs of fatigue over the last 12 months, during a return to Old Trafford that may have been as taxing mentally as physically, while Herrera got through such a prodigious amount of work that it made many fear it was unsustainable.

Looking at Pereira’s statistics from last season, he would be best deployed at the front of a midfield three. Per 90 minutes, he made 1.66 passes and 1.56 key passes, numbers which are all the more impressive given the limited amount of the ball that his team saw each match — he made only 34 passes on average, less than half of Herrera’s 74.6. He also showed a surprisingly combative streak — he won 44.4 percent of his duels, only slightly less than Herrera’s 46.0 percent. If there are any question marks, they might arise over his difficulty in retaining possession — he completed 76 percent of his passes. However, this figure must again be viewed in the context of a team whose midfield and defence was continually under siege from rivals with far greater resources.

Given Pereira’s attacking instincts, Mourinho’s move for Nemanja Matic would benefit him greatly. Matic has been criticised at times for taking the safe option when playing the ball out from the base of midfield, but his conservatism allows those ahead of him to thrive. With Matic at the back of a midfield three, this would allow either Pogba or Herrera to take a slightly deeper position and allow Pereira to link with the forwards. Since he is still only 21, a supporting role would suit him well at this point of his career. Should he excel, he may even bring himself again to the attention of Brazil’s national team. Though the competition is typically fierce, and probably too severe in a World Cup year, the long-term outlook for him is still fairly promising.

Born in Belgium, he has represented the country of his father’s birth at both U20 and U23 level, scoring three times in nine total appearances for these sides.

Pereira’s eye for goal and sharp turn of pace should be a great asset to a side that struggled to score too often last season. If he can return such notable figures in a struggling team, it is exciting to think what he could do in a team with the vision and movement of players like Henrikh Mkhitaryan. He may also be better at linking up the attack than Jesse Lingard was during the previous campaign — though the England international was always industrious, he too often failed to execute passing moves at the kind of tempo that would open up opposing defences.

Pereira has showed signs of having that elusive quality, and he should also return to Old Trafford battle-hardened by an exacting 12 months at Granada. It is thus that, while many of millions of pounds are being spent elsewhere, Pereira’s move back to Old Trafford could be one of the more intriguing — and maybe even important — elements of United’s squad this year.

He has shown that he does not want for talent or motivation; in the coming months, all he will hopefully now need is a sufficient platform to show what he can do.