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Former Manchester United academy gem Andreas Pereira has criticised the club’s transfer policy in recent years and believes he felt a lack of affection at the club.
The Brazil international joined United’s academy from PSV Eindhoven in 2011 and made his debut for the first team in 2014.
He would go on to make 75 appearances for the first team in all competitions, scoring four goals.
Pereira never really made a first team spot his own however, and moved to Fulham in 2022, where he has found a permanent starting position and made himself a Premier League regular.
The 28 year old has made 91 appearances for the Cottagers and has become a regular in the Brazil squad, earning eight caps in 2024.
Speaking to PL Brasil, Pereira bemoaned his lack of chances when he first broke through to the United first team due to the amount of options in his position.
“I arrived in the first team with (Louis) van Gaal. It was very difficult for me to play because, at the time, there were (in midfield) Rooney, Mata, Di Maria, Memphis had just arrived… I couldn’t play on the wing, or as a midfielder or as a defensive midfielder, because Schweinsteiger had just arrived too.”
The midfield man then commented on how difficult it is to come through the youth system to the first team of a big club like United as “you have to be patient and the (more experienced) players also want to stay there, they want to play, they want to enjoy themselves.”
Therefore he felt he had no choice but to go out on loan as he didn’t want “to wait four or five years.”
Interestingly the former United man criticised the role of his former side in his departure, claiming he felt “a bit of a lack of affection” from the club, especially in the context that he had spent such a long time at United, from the age of 16 to 26 years old.
As a result, he never felt that he really had an opportunity to show why he belonged on such a stage, despite spending a decade there.
Pereira then went on to lambast the club’s more recent transfer policy and believes they should have put more faith in their academy players.
“I think that, in certain signings, the club could have trusted more in the youth players. In me, Angel (Gomes), McTominay, Lingard, these players. They even play well, but then, at the first opportunity the club gets, they discard them.”
This point is hard to argue as the club spent £615 million since former coach Ten Hag arrived in 2022 and it is far from clear they are any better for it as they sit in 13th position in the league table.
With the arrival of Ruben Amorim in a week’s time, United fans will hope the club will finally find the balance of signing new players and putting faith in those who deserve to stay.
