SS Lazio manager Simone Inzaghi has finally discussed the development of the Manchester United graduate, currently on loan at the Serie A side.
The first half of the 2019-20 season, from the beginning to the end of the January transfer window, there was not much to speak of in terms of Manchester United’s creative department.
The likes of Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford were highly dependent on their individual skills to create clear-cut opportunities for themselves and then find a way to score as well.
In the meantime, two players that were scapegoated heavily were Jesse Lingard and Andreas Pereira. The accusation was that they were not good enough to start for a club the size of Manchester United. The claims were justifiable, and it was that United’s situation wouldn’t improve if they continued to keep their faith in the duo.
Therefore, they brought in Bruno Fernandes in the January transfer window, paying €55 million (£47 million) to Sporting CP as the initial transfer fee. Having arrived at Manchester, the Portuguese playmaker made United’s number 10 position his own immediately, meaning both Jesse Lingard and Andreas Pereira saw their names dropping down the pecking order.
In the last summer, it was clear that one of them would have to leave. The assumption soon became reality, with Andreas Pereira joining Lazio on a season-long loan deal. On the other hand, Jesse Lingard stayed put although that might change soon as well.
Scoring a long-ranger in his debut for Lazio, Pereira made a sparkling start to life in the Italian Serie A. However, since then, things have not gone so well for the Brazilian. The 25-year-old has played 15 matches (342 minutes) across all competitions.
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Adding to that, several reports have suggested that Manchester United are considering calling Pereira back from loan. But SS Lazio manager Simone Inzaghi, in his latest press conference, claimed that he is happy with Andreas Pereira and elaborated why he hadn’t found enough game time.
As reported by Football Italia, Inzaghi said:
"“It’s a strange situation playing with the transfer window open.“Andreas Pereira wants to give his contribution and I am very pleased with the way he is settling in quickly. Clearly, with the forwards currently available, I am trying to use him in a different position.“It’s not easy, as there are Luis Alberto and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic in midfield.”"
There has not been any concrete confirmation. But if we consider gauging Inzaghi’s words as the metrics of impending truth, Pereira is likely to complete his one-year loan spell at Lazio instead of returning to Old Trafford early. But things can change very quickly in football, as we all know.