Manchester United owes this starlet a move away
Manchester United starlet Andreas Pereira needs a loan move to improve his chances of securing a spot in the Belgian Olympic team
If Andreas Pereira truly wants to play for Belgium in the next Olympics he will need Manchester United to grant him a loan move away to make his dreams come true.
Pereira has only managed to make three Premier League appearances for Louis Van Gaal and that certainly hasn’t been enough to impress his bosses back home. Pereira is smart enough to realize that he needs to find playing time immediately if he’s going to make the Belgian team.
His recent comments to the Manchester Evening news make it clear that he’s got his eyes on a move away from Old Trafford. He made sure to emphasize that he’s still a United player in his comments, but the subtext of his interview made it clear he wants out. It’s thought that a variety of clubs including Leicester are interested in taking him on during the January transfer window.
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Pereira’s feelings are entirely understandable given his struggle to break into the United side. What’s less obvious is that Manchester United owes a move away to Pereira as well.
By keeping him in the side but not utilizing him, they are stunting his career growth. Part of the unwritten contract between a young player and his club is that the parental organization (the club) will look out for the player’s best interests.
In this case, it’s clearly in Pereira’s best interest to find regular playing time. Manchester United must realize that he needs games if he’s going to develop. They should also realize that providing him a loan away from Old Trafford is also important for the player’s emotional wellbeing.
It would be impossible for a player in Pereira’s position not to feel like an outcast. He is clearly a player with a ton of self-belief and it has to bother him every day to be isolated from the first team. The weight of potentially missing out on an Olympic berth likely makes that isolation unbearable.
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Some will argue that Pereira is a United player and that the club doesn’t owe him anything other than a fair chance to play and his salary. That kind of thinking is exceedingly short-sighted. Treating players as if they are robots or even worse, property, is going to kill the culture of your club. I’m not saying this is what United is doing to Pereira, but it’s getting too close for my taste.
Manchester United needs to realize that it’s in their best interest, as well as Andreas Pereira’s best interest, to give him the January loan he so desperately craves. If they allow him to leave the nest, he might come back a more developed, and certainly a happier, player who can help them on the pitch next season.