Andreas Pereira 'set to return to Manchester United after Lazio loan'

Andreas Pereira ‘set to return to Manchester United after dismal loan at Lazio with Serie A club unwilling to pay £21m to make the move permanent’… and the Brazilian international’s last league start coming in December

  • Andreas Pereira is struggling for game time on loan at Lazio this season
  • The Manchester United man was sent to the Serie A club on loan last autumn 
  • Reports says Lazio will not pay the £21million fee to make the deal permanent 
  • Pereira has started just two league matches since moving to the Italian capital 

Andreas Pereira is set for a Manchester United return as Lazio are reportedly unlikely to fork out the £21million fee to sign him permanently amid a dismal loan spell. 

The 25-year-old has been at the Serie A side since the start of the season on a temporary deal but has started just two league matches all season. 

Pereira found himself surplus to requirements at Old Trafford at the start of the season following the £40million arrival of Donny van de Beek, who joined Scott McTominay, Paul Pogba and Fred in the Red Devils midfield pecking order.

Lazio are unwilling to pay the £21million fee to sign Andreas Pereira permanently, say reports

The midfielder could face a return to Manchester United who sent him out on loan last year

And according to the Daily Star, Lazio are not prepared to pay the money to make the loan deal a permanent one due to Pereira’s lack of displays.

The midfielder has not started a Serie A match since the beginning of December and has played just 75 minutes of league football since the start of 2021. 

Pereira also failed to start in any of Lazio’s Champions League group stage matches and was unused for the last-16 first-leg defeat by Bayern Munich last month. 

Pereira (right) has started just two league matches for Lazio since joining them on loan

When the 25-year-old has been used by Lazio boss Simone Inzaghi, he has often played in his natural midfield role but has occasionally been asked to cover for a left-wing role. 

His overall Lazio record stands at one goal and two assists in 25 matches so far this season with Inzaghi’s side only capable of achieving an unlikely top-four finish during the final weeks of the season. 

Former PSV Eindhoven youth team player Pereira was signed by Manchester United as a teenager back in November 2011 before making his senior debut under Louis van Gaal three years later.

The midfielder has just one goal and two assists in 21 matches in all competitions for Lazio

The Brazil international, who has been capped once by the El Selecao senior team, has made 75 United appearances in all competitions since then but has failed to nail down a regular spot in the team.

Out of those 75 appearances, 40 of them came last season as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side finished third and reached the Europa League semi-finals – but Pereira’s form was not good enough to keep him at Old Trafford for the current campaign. 

Pereira’s contract at United expires in the summer of 2023 with the Red Devils facing a decision to either integrate him back into the first-team squad or find a new club for the midfielder. 




Share this article


Source: Read Full Article