Unlike Caglar Soyuncu, Rachid Ghezzal and Filip Benkovic, Ricardo Pereira was one of the successes of last summer’s transfer window for Leicester City, picking up both Player of the Season and Player’s Player of the Season trophies at the club’s end of season awards.
The 24-year-old arrived from Porto for just under £20m, and despite a shaky first few months, he quickly became one of the first names on the team sheet at King Power Stadium, starting 92% of his club’s games in the Premier League.
Following Sunday’s 0-0 draw with Chelsea to end the season, Pereira was interviewed by Nice-Matin, who wanted to know how their former favourite was doing in England, congratulating him in the process for his personal accolades.
He said: “I wasn’t expecting it to go so well. I had faith in myself, but you never quite know what to expect in a new country, in a new league. I needed to adapt to life in England, to my teammates, to a new style of play. After 2-3 months, I felt at home.”
However, such a good season won’t have gone unnoticed by bigger clubs around Europe, especially those playing in the Champions League, which Leicester City won’t be partaking in next season, having finished the season in ninth.Admitting he wanted to ‘continue to grow’ as a player, Pereira was then asked if that meant doing so via a transfer to a club in the top four.
He replied: “Maybe. I don’t know Leicester’s position on that. We’ll have to see if it can be positive for me too, but I’m not thinking about that yet. I’ve already played in the Champions League with Porto, so of course I’d like to play in it again.
“We’re working towards that with Leicester. The club’s Premier League title in 2016 shows it’s possible.”
