Andreas Pereira has found game time hard to come at Manchester United (Getty Images)
According to Daily Mail, Lazio are close to signing Manchester United midfielder Andreas Pereira on loan for the 2020/21 season.
As per Sky Sports, the 24-year-old has said his farewells to his teammates earlier this week and will shortly be completing a loan switch. The Daily Mail further adds that Lazio will have the option of making the transfer permanent for £24.5m after completing the move.
Born in Belgium to a Brazilian father and a mother of German descent, Andreas Pereira started his footballing education at Lommel United before going on to spend six years at PSV Eindhoven. The midfielder eventually completed his development in Man United’s academy before making his senior professional debut for the Red Devils during the 2014-15 season.
Pereira enjoyed fruitful loan spells at Granada and Valencia in the La Liga before establishing himself as a squad player at Old Trafford. He made 22 appearances in all competitions during the 2018-19 campaign and followed it up with 40 outings last term, with 25 of those coming in the Premier League. (h/t Transfermarkt)
The one-time capped Brazil international has accumulated 75 appearances for United in all competitions so far, scoring 4 goals and registering 5 assists in the process. (h/t Transfermarkt)
The Brazilian enjoyed an extended run as a regular starter in United’s midfield during the first half of the previous campaign following injuries to Paul Pogba and Scott McTominay. However, the Brazilian failed to inspire enough confidence with his performances that he is good enough to thrive at a club of United’s stature.
The 24-year-old was tried out in a wide variety of midfield roles by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer but he failed to make the best use of his opportunities. And, Bruno Fernandes came through the door in January and the subsequent return of Pogba blew Pereira out of the first-team picture at Old Trafford.
Pereira hardly played a significant role for United following the restart in June and his chances of featuring regularly this season look even slimmer following the big-money arrival of Donny van de Beek from Ajax.
Suffice to say, United currently have some world-class talents competing for places in the middle of the park and the Brazilian clearly hasn’t done enough to convince that he is capable of competing with such stalwarts.
Also, his omission from United’s matchday squads for all their four matches this term is a clear indication of how far down the pecking order he is.
Despite his lacklustre performances at United, Andreas Pereira remains a decent enough midfielder capable of delivering the goods in some of the other top leagues in Europe, as evident from his successful loan spells at Valencia and Granada.
He’s still only 24 and has his best years ahead of him, so it wouldn’t make any sense for the Brazil international to continue gathering dust on the sidelines at Old Trafford.
United, on the other hand, should look at Pereira as a saleable asset in the market, having spent big money on Fernandes and van de Beek to bolster the midfield in recent windows. All in all, a loan move with an option to buy should work out perfectly for all parties involved if Pereira manages to prove his worth in Italy.