Andreas Pereira has named the biggest Manchester United flop from his 11-year spell at the club and has appeared to take a swipe at his former side.
The Brazilian player transferred to Manchester United from PSV Eindhoven in 2011, initially joining the youth team before eventually debuting for the first team three years later.
Pereira played 75 matches for Manchester United and had loan spells with Granada and Valencia in Spain, Lazio in Italy, and Flamengo in Brazil.
The 28-year-old departed Old Trafford for Fulham in 2022, transferring within the Premier League. He recently discussed his time at Manchester United in an interview with Rio Ferdinand.
‘Sometimes it’s not the right time at the right club,’ Pereira said on Rio Ferdinand’s YouTube channel. ‘Some things don’t go well for you, it doesn’t mean you’re a s*** player.
‘I’ve seen it with a lot of players at Man Utd, big names that come and then don’t play good.’
Asked to name any specific players, Pereira added: ‘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.
‘It’s difficult to play for United. To wear the No.7 shirt. It is difficult.’
In a seeming jab at United Andreas Pereira suggested that he didn’t feel appreciated at the club, recounting being discouraged from pursuing a loan move to Flamengo by being labeled as ‘crazy’.
‘I wanted to play,’ Pereira said when asked about his desire to leave the club. ‘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.’
