Andreas Pereira has revealed he is working hard to impress his manager Jose Mourinho in order to become a regular for Manchester United in the 2016-17 season.
The Portuguese coach was in charge of the Red Devils for the first time during the pre-season fixture against Wigan Athletic. The Premier League giants sealed a 2-0 win over the Latics at the DW Stadium on Saturday.
Will Keane opened the scoring in the second half before Pereira doubled the lead to help United seal a comfortable victory over the newly promoted Championship side.
Under the former United manager, Louis van Gaal, Pereira failed to break into the first team regularly and made only three appearances in the Premier League. The Brazilian attacker is hoping that things would be different under the former Chelsea boss at Old Trafford in the upcoming campaign.
“I’m very happy that I scored in this game, and yeah, it was not a bad strike at all,” Pereira told United’s official website.
“I think it was very important for me to get some minutes and show the manager and show the team that I can help them. I am very happy that I could help.”
“It’s very important for me. I want to show the manager, to show the people around the club, to show the players that I can help this season. It’s very important for me. I want to show this in training and just keep working hard.”
Pereira came on as a second half substitute, replacing Michael Carrick and played in the central midfield position. The 20-year-old hinted that he would prefer to play in the attacking position. He said, “I can play in other positions but I enjoyed that role a lot.”
After United’s win over Wigan, Mourinho piled praise on Pereira and Axel Tuanzebe following their display over the weekend.
“Andreas has lots of talent. He has incredible vision and an incredible technique,” Mourinho explained.
“That’s just talking about two players [Pereira and Tuanzebe] but the reality is the kids, without pressure and in a calm environment and not in the fire but in a cool situation for them, were very good. And it was very good for me to see what they can do.”
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