Departed Man Utd star says leaving was ‘best decision’ he’s made; tips current club to spring stunning Prem shock

A former Red Devil has claimed leaving Manchester United was the best decision of his life and major developments since then strongly suggest he’s right.

Man Utd have waved goodbye to a plethora of homegrown stars this window and more could soon follow. Willy Kambwala joined Villarreal for £9.7m, while Mason Greenwood was sold to Marseille for a sum that could rise to £27m. Scott McTominay has the green light to leave if clubs table offers in the £30m range.

Dean Hnederson, James Garner, Tahith Chong, Andreas Pereira and Anthony Elanga are among the other academy graduates United have collected fees for in recent years.

Pereira joined Fulham during Erik ten Hag’s first window in charge in a deal worth £10m back in 2022.

The playmaker quickly became a key figure for manager Marco Silva and featured in 37 of Fulham’s 38 Premier League matches last term.

Pereira’s form has been of such a high standard, in fact, that he was even recalled to the Brazilian national side earlier in 2024. Pereira has racked up seven caps for his country this year and is now a mainstay in Selecao squads.

When speaking to the Evening Standard, Pereira described leaving Man Utd as the best decision he’s ever made. The fact he’s featuring regularly for both club and country does suggest there’s truth in his claims.

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Pereira revels in proving Man Utd wrong

“I think it was the best decision I made in my life,” said the 28-year-old. “To come to live and play here, to enjoy my football, to get back into the national team with great players, to enjoy my football in the Premier League, leaving is the best decision I made.

“The time I was [at Man Utd], I really enjoyed being at a fantastic club. But I don’t regret leaving. We [the players in my situation] have this desire to show it was wrong that we didn’t play.

“With everyone’s help around me [at Fulham], I achieved a great season. We started the season by losing a very important player, [Aleksandar] Mitrovic.

“We had to search for the way we have to play without him. In January, Rodrigo [Muniz] came in, scored all the goals and made my life easier!”

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Fulham backed to spring stunning Premier League shock

Fulham coped well after losing their leading goalscorer to the Saudi Pro League last summer. The Cottagers will again have to deal with losses next season after Joao Palhinha joined Bayern Munich and Tosin Adarabioyo signed with Chelsea.

Nonetheless, Pereira is confident Fulham can not only survive but thrive in the top flight. The Brazilian even went on to talk up Fulham’s chances of finishing in a European qualification place next term.

“I’m 100 per cent sure Fulham are under-rated,” declared Pereira.

“It’s because, in the past, maybe Fulham always went up and down. Now, people are getting used to the different image of Fulham that Marco has created.

“For sure, we are under-rated. If you look at last season, we played good football, beat the big teams and can compete with them. That’s shown how far we’ve come.”

He continued: “This season, we have to aim a little bit higher. After two years consolidating our place in the Premier League, it looks different at Fulham now.

“We need to look a little bit like Brighton have done, aim for that.”

Pereira concluded: “You can dream about Europe, we should dream of Europe. With the quality we have in the squad and the manager, we should aim for that – at least.

“It’s a good thing to start the season thinking about this kind of objective.”

The addition of Emile Smith Rowe from Arsenal (34m including add-ons) will greatly aid Fulham’s chances of springing a shock.

The Cottagers are also attempting to sign McTominay and discussions with Man Utd are expected to continue after seeing a £23m bid rejected.

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