Joel Pereira has revealed he’s pretty eager to return from his loan at Belenenses to play for Manchester United.
In an interview with O Jogo this weekend, the goalkeeper claimed that playing for the Red Devils is his dream, although there’s no chance he’ll get a shot soon.
The arrival of a Portuguese manager could’ve helped him with a bit of game time, but despite a few minutes in a pre-season friendly against Wigan Athletic, José Mourinho decided to loan him out to his home country.
Asked by O Jogo what Mourinho told him before sending him out, Pereira said: “He arrived and had a big impact in the team. Right in his first days of work, it was seen there was another pleasure. José Mourinho is a winner.
“Since the first training, I’ve been in the first team until going to the Olympics, and I still played against Wigan. I hope I have more opportunities next year. He told me to enjoy, learn and play as much as possible at Belenenses.”
Questioned if he’s going to return to a title contender club, the goalkeeper is seeing more of a bigger picture: “The English league is very competitive, but I hope José Mourinho wins it all. I know this is not the true Manchester United. It’s a club that has to win, I believe it will go back to the titles. With José Mourinho, I’m sure it will happen.”
Pereira was also asked if the likes of Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford getting many opportunities at Old Trafford give the other youngsters hope of reaching the first team: “It gave much motivation to the young players. With Van Gaal many arrived to the first team and with José Mourinho the door is opened.”
Despite being a new arrival and a 20-year-old, Pereira conquered his place at Belenenses, having started three games for the club this month. His loan runs until next summer, and there’s been no talks of a purchase option for the young goalkeeper.
