Manchester United have triggered an option in Brazilian midfielder Andreas Pereira’s contract, to extend his stay at the club by a further 12 months.
Manchester United have decided to extend academy product Andreas Pereira’s stay at the club till 2020, after triggering the one-year extension option in his current contract, as reported by BBC.
The 23-year-old Pereira came through the ranks at Belgian outfit Lommel United and followed it up with a brief spell with Dutch heavyweights PSV Eindhoven, before joining Manchester United in January 2012 at the age of 16 years.
The midfielder has been held in very high regard at the club ever since he made the switch. Despite having made his senior debut back in 2014, the Brazilian found it hard to establish himself at the first-team level. In order to continue his development, Pereira spent the last two seasons away on loan in Spain, with Granada and Valencia.
Having returned to Manchester United this past summer, Pereira was brought into the first-team picture by Jose Mourinho, who utilized him in a holding midfield role at the beginning of the season. However, a poor performance in the second league game against Brighton & Hove Albion saw his first-team appearances become rare.
Things have improved for the Brazilian international since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took over from the Portuguese in December. Pereira has racked up 14 appearances for Manchester United this term, with his best display coming in the 3-2 comeback win against Southampton, during which he scored his first goal for the club and assisted one as well.
Pereira was one of Manchester United’s better performers in the 3-1 win over Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Champions League last week, helping the Red Devils script an epic comeback and seal progression to the quarterfinals.
Manchester United’s Premier League rivals Arsenal and Chelsea were reported to be plotting to sign Pereira in a cut-price deal in the January transfer window. However, no move materialized at the time.
By extending Pereira’s contract by another year, Manchester United have bought time to negotiate a new deal with the midfielder or sell for a fee in the summer, rather than losing him on a free transfer.
