'I left Man Utd without talking to the manager - it's the best decision I ever made'

Andreas Pereira revealed he dodged a conversation with Erik ten Hag to force through his exit from Manchester United. The Brazilian, who now plays for Fulham, insisted it was the best decision of his career as he sought regular first-team football and a sense of being "loved" by fans.

Pereira left for Fulham in 2022, with the London club snapping him up in a £8.6million (rising to £10m) deal. Ten Hag had only just arrived at Old Trafford, but after years of limited opportunities under previous managers, Pereira wasn't willing to wait and see if his fortunes would improve under the new boss.

After three consecutive loan spells, Pereira saw Fulham - United's Premier League opponents this Sunday - offering him the stability he had been missing. It was an opportunity he felt he couldn't turn down.

"This was when I came back to England [after my loan]," Pereira told United legend Rio Ferdinand on his Rio Ferdinand Presents show. "Erik ten Hag, he worked at PSV when I was 16 years old.

"Before leaving for United, the [PSV] president and Erik ten Hag came to speak to me and my dad and said, 'Look everything is set up for you at PSV, if you stay here you're going to play in the first team'. But I'd just been to United and spoke with Fergie. I was like, 'I'm going to United'.

"That's why I didn't want to speak to Erik because I knew him and I knew that, at the time, it was always a conversation, like, 'Andreas, stay here. You're not going to play every game, maybe one game in every three, you'll be around the squad'. That's not what I wanted, I wanted to play."

Pereira, 29, came through United's youth ranks after joining from PSV Eindhoven in 2011, making 75 appearances for the first team. However, his time at the club was marked by inconsistency and stints on the sidelines, with loan spells at Granada, Valencia, Lazio, and Flamengo limiting his opportunities under various managers.

Upon returning from a successful period in Brazil with Flamengo in 2022, Pereira was determined to leave permanently. The decision wasn't easy, as Pereira admitted to second-guessing himself amid the prestige of staying at the Theatre of Dreams.

"Leaving United, you're like, 'Am I really going to do this? Am I sure?' In the end, you're never 100 per cent sure, really. Sometimes you think stay and have another go. Other times, you have to leave," he said.

A key factor was his desire for consistent minutes, coupled with a yearning to reconnect with his Brazilian roots. He nearly joined Everton before opting for Flamengo on loan.

"I wanted to play, after COVID, I wanted to play. I was going crazy, wanting to play in the Premier League. I wanted to show that I was good enough, I was very close to joining [Everton] and suddenly my father called me and said, ‘Andreas, you never played in Brazil, you're Brazilian,'" Pereira recalled.

"I wanted to play in Brazil and want to feel loved. I didn't feel the love that I thought I should get. I wanted to feel loved by my own people, play close to my family and enjoy football."

Despite warnings from United staff that a move to Brazil might end his European career - "Everyone at United said, 'You're crazy, you'll stay in Brazil, you'll never come back to Europe'," - Pereira proved them wrong. He returned to the Premier League with Fulham, where he has flourished under Marco Silva.

In 119 appearances, he has contributed 10 goals and 22 assists, becoming a midfield linchpin and even drawing interest from Chelsea , who eyed him as a replacement for Conor Gallagher in 2024. In three years at the West London club he's been left out of just eight Premier League games - with six of those due to an ankle injury in 2023.

He was, however, an unused sub in Fulham's opening day draw with Brighton last weekend. The Cottagers snatched a point late on thanks to an injury-time equaliser scored by Rodrigo Muniz.

Sunday's clash with United not only offers Pereira the chance to work his way back into the starting XI, but also to prove a point to his former club and demonstrate how far he's come. His bold choice to sidestep Ten Hag and seek a fresh start has paid dividends, transforming him from a United fringe player into a Premier League mainstay.

As the two teams lock horns this evening, Pereira's story serves as a testament to the value of betting on oneself -even if it means leaving a giant like Manchester United behind.

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