Ten Hag has worked with the player before
Erik ten Hag is prepared to give Andreas Pereira another chance in the Manchester United squad, according to reports. Ten Hag will take over at Old Trafford in the summer and faces a massive rebuild, with the club unlikely to be competing in the Champions League next season and several players expected to leave on free transfers.
Man United look like they will be particularly light in midfield, with Paul Pogba, Nemanja Matic and Juan Mata all set to leave when their contracts expire this summer. This has potentially opened the door for Pereira to return. The Brazilian midfielder has not played for the Red Devils since 2020.
Ten Hag rates forgotten Man United midfielder Andreas Pereira
Ten Hag is interested in bringing Pereira back to Old Trafford if the midfielder doesn’t secure a transfer away from Man United in the summer, according to ESPN.
Pereira is currently on loan with Flamengo in Brazil, and the club have the option to make his move permanent in the summer. The midfielder, 26, has one year left on his deal at Old Trafford.
John Murtough, Man United’s ‘Football Director’, has reportedly told Pereira that Ten Hag will include him in his squad if he does not join Flamengo this summer.
Ten Hag worked with the midfielder at PSV Eindhoven over a decade ago when he was the club’s assistant manager and Pereira was a youth-team player.
Pereira made his debut for Man United in 2014 and has played 75 times for the club. He has had four loan spells away from the club, at Granada, Valencia, Lazio and Flamengo respectively. The midfielder has been capped once for Brazil at international level.
Man United rebuild under Ten Hag
Last week, there were reports that Man United would support Ten Hag in the transfer market as he seeks to rebuild the squad after years of stagnation and underwhelming results. The club were said to be prepared to overhaul the entire squad and move on as many as 12 players.
However, it appears that United are already starting to row back on those reports. They will give the Dutch coach a transfer budget of between £100m and £150m, and a veto over new arrivals. But United are now said to be keen for Ten Hag to oversee an ‘evolution rather than a revolution’ and work with many of the players already at the club.
The club’s hierarchy does not agree with Ralf Rangnick’s assessment that as many as 10 new players may be required for the team to be competitive again.
Man United are said to be prepared to ‘listen to offers’ for five players – Eric Bailly, Phil Jones, Anthony Martial, Alex Telles and Aaron Wan-Bissaka. However, listening to offers for players isn’t the same as proactively trying to move them on. So, it may be wishful thinking for the club’s supporters to expect a new team next season.
Man United are also working on signing three new players, according to ESPN, and have prioritised buying a defender, a central midfielder and a forward.
Yet, they are ‘baulking at some of the fees being quoted.’ United look to be already priced out of moves for Harry Kane, Declan Rice and Benfica forward Darwin Nunez, who is valued at €130m by his club.
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