Andreas Pereira’s arrival has now been officially announced by Flamengo, after the player travelled to Rio de Janeiro on Friday to complete the move.
The midfielder’s wish was crucial for his transfer to Brazil, as Manchester United would have rather kept him in Europe.
Now with the player clearly not in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s plans, and a contract running until 2023, is there still a chance the Red Devils could make a reasonable with a permanent exit?
According to reports from Brazil, Flamengo will have a buying option of over €15m, and to convince the club of using that, Pereira will almost certainly need to have the best season of his career.
Flamengo currently have one of the best squads in their history, having won two league titles and one Copa Libertadores in the past couple of seasons. That means they’re packed full of stars, especially in their offensive sector.
So in case Pereira is thinking of playing as a winger or advanced midfielder, he’d have to compete for a place against the likes of Everton Ribeiro, Giorgian de Arrascaeta, Bruno Henrique or Gabriel Barbosa. All players who’ve been at their peak recently.
That means the Manchester United player would either try to rob one of those places, or try to play deeper, probably in the role left by Gerson, who moved to Marseille this summer. That would result in playing in a midfield duo, something he’s never done regularly so far.
The fact that Flamengo have arguably the best squad in Brazil can certainly weigh on his performances, giving him good conditions to succeed in an already consolidated squad. On the other side, he must prove himself to get enough minutes, and will do that under pressure due to the huge attention the club gets from fans and the media.
The Rio de Janeiro side have only spent over €15m on a signing once. That was to sign Gabriel Barbosa from Inter Milan following a loan spell in which he scored 43 goals in one season. So that gives an idea of how great Andreas must be for the club to invest that much on his permanent move.
In case Manchester United are hopeful a European club can still go after the midfielder, then that’d undoubtedly depend on his international showcase. Some of that could come from Flamengo’s success in international competitions, as they’re currently in the Copa Libertadores semi-finals, which Pereira will be able to take part in.
Another possibility is his chance of being called up for the national team again.
First will come the not-so-insignificant task of impressing for Flamengo.
