After putting in some excellent performances under Ole Gunnar Solksjaer in recent weeks, Manchester United midfielder Andreas Pereira has been rewarded with a 12-month contract extension, after the club triggered an extension clause in his contract.
The Brazilian midfielder, whose old contract would have expired at the end of this season, has made 14 league appearances in his United career so far, nine of which have been in this current season.
After loan spells with Spanish side’s Granada and Valencia in recent years, Pereira has used the experiences to become a more well-rounded and mature player, which has shown in his recent performances.
But, at 22 years of age, how good can Pereira become?
We used Football Manager 2019 to find out.
The attacking midfielder can play in a number of positions across the midfield, including on either wing, as a number ten or as a traditional central midfielder.
The Brazilian, who was actually born in Belgium, is a gifted footballer with impeccable technique and superb technical attributes, including passing, dribbing, first touch and so on. He’s also equally capable with both feet, something that is increasingly rare in modern day football.
As demonstrated with his goal against Southampton last week, Pereira is a real threat from long range, due to his considerable technical skill.
Physically he might not be the strongest, but he can certainly hold is own. He’s also a fast player, with good agility and stamina too.
Defensively, he has work to do, but that will come with more experience and maturity, when he starts getting a consistent run of football under his belt.
The Brazil international has been given a current ability of 136 out of 200 on Football Manager 2019, which puts him at the same level as players like Phil Foden, Arda Turan and Pedro Obiang.
However, he has a potential ability of 155, which means he could improve considerably over the next couple of years, becoming as good as Dani Parejo, Lucas Torreira, Georginino Wijnaldum and Adrien Rabiot.
If he reaches his potential, he could also become better than current United stars Juan Mata, Jesse Lingard, Marcus Rashford and Ander Herrera.
According to Football Manager 2019, Manchester United have certainly made the right decision by extending his contract, and judging by his recent performances, there’s nothing to say Pereira can’t become a key member of Solskjaer‘s first team squad moving forward.