Some players leave Manchester United on a sour note due to their experiences and some flourish afterward but keep their experiences at United in a happy place, Andreas Pereira is firmly in the latter bracket.
Andreas Pereira is a big success story for the Man United system as he bet on himself after failing to establish himself at United.
Since joining the youth team from PSV Eindhoven, Pereira had four loan spells at different clubs, and got an extended run in the first at Old Trafford but could never cement his place.
Now at Fulham, not only is Pereira an established Premier League star, but he’s also a Brazilian international at the top of his game.
He still carries a bit of United in his heart, mainly the “devil” part of it!
Andreas Pereira’s plan to ‘irritate’ Man City fans
The date is October 5, 2024. Fulham travel to the Etihad Stadium to face Manchester City before their now-losing run had them in the doldrums.
In a storybook start for the Cottagers, Raul Jimenez backheels potentially the assist of the season as it falls in Andreas Pereira’s way which he calmly dispatches to give Fulham a 1-0 lead.
City would go on to win that game 3-2 but the most notable thing from the game would be Pereira’s celebration after his goal.
The Brazilian international ran towards the corner flag, swished his finger in the air while jumping and landed with Cristiano Ronaldo’s trademark “Siuuu” chant.
Needless to say, the City ground was incensed and now, in an interview with Premier League Brasil, Pereira has revealed it was all intention to ‘irritate’ the City fans.
He still holds a special place for United in his heart which is why he wants to do well against City and he took his chance that day to bring out the celebration of a United icon.
Pereira said: “For me, it’s always a place where you want to win (the Etihad Stadium). When the goal came against City, I just thought, ‘What am I going to do here in this stadium to irritate the fans… I’m going to bring on CR7.”
“Bring CR7” is exactly what he did amid boos from the City faithful and Fulham’s loss was the only thing that prevented it from being a perfect evening for him.
However, his Fulham teammates didn’t think it was such a smart idea.
Andreas Pereira’s teammates called him ‘crazy’
Manchester City’s stadium is hardly known for its daunting atmosphere even though the team has been nearly unbeatable on the ground.
Still, to rile up a team that can be utterly dominant when focused completely is not a very wise idea which is what Pereira’s celebration was intended for.
The player recalled in the interview that when his teammates came to know about his plan, they called him crazy.
He said: “I celebrated, and the guys (from Fulham) all said: ‘You’re crazy’. I’m a fan of his (Cristiano Ronaldo) and not just at this stadium (Etihad) either, if he scores now, for the national team, anyway, I would do it again.”
Ronaldo had left United by the time Pereira joined and he wasn’t at the club when he came back either. However, it is an open secret that Pereira considers Ronaldo his idol and has said so many times previously as well.
The Portuguese is a player many look up to, especially those who were coming through the ranks when he was tearing it up in his latter years for Man Utd or in the mid-2010s for Real Madrid.
Pereira is one of those and combined with his Man Utd combination, makes him mark down games against United’s fierce rivals in his calendar.
United would be grateful if he started taking some points off of them too!
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