Andreas Pereira may well be the most intriguing puzzle to solve in the entire Premier League.
After all, how does someone with a frankly abysmal record of just three goals and five assists in 68 total games, continue to be a prominent part of the Manchester United first-team?
The Brazilian doesn’t even have the excuse of being a holding midfielder – although even that was an experiment that backfired earlier this season. The 24-year-old has played the vast majority of his games either in the number ten role, or out on the left and right-flanks. These are positions which should quite understandably result in a lot of goal involvements.
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Instead, Pereira has never quite delivered on those levels. Even his best campaign to date saw him net only five goals in La Liga with Granada back in the 2016/2017 season. Despite all his troubles, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer quite bizarrely continues to play him – and not just play him, but uses him in a position that is quite pivotal to how the whole team’s attack plays.
After all, as a number ten, you are expected to create and score chances, and be the fulcrum of your side’s attacking phases. Pereira, on the other hand, has struggled with that burden, with a career average of a measly 1.1 key passes per game, and just one goal in 13 appearances this season in that position as per Transfermarkt.
It’s simply not the kind of total an attacking midfielder playing for United should have. Just compare Pereira’s output to the Red Devils’ new big-money signing, Bruno Fernandes. The former Sporting CP man had a quite remarkable 63 goals and 52 assists in 137 games (albeit in the Portuguese league), and averaged 3.7 key passes and 3.5 shots per game in Liga NOS this season.
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Those are the numbers of a bona-fide number ten. Capable of pulling the strings and getting the best out of teammates, and also showing the responsibility to be your side’s hero too. Despite not really offering much on the pitch, Solskjaer continues to place his trust in Pereira, and that should be a worrying sign for United.
But with Fernandes’ arrival, the Norwegian has no real excuse now not to hand the creative baton to Fernandes. The club have backed him in the transfer market with a swoop for a player who they were interested in last summer. Now it’s Solskjaer’s turn to almost live up to his bargain, by ending this obsession with Pereira, and letting his new signing wreak havoc in that all-important number ten role.
Meanwhile, Man Utd fans have hailed this starlet after his display in the FA Youth Cup.