United midfielder linked with Valencia switch

A promising pre-season offered hope that this could be Andreas Pereira’s breakthrough year at Manchester United. However, two games in, it doesn’t look like that’s going to be the case. The 21-year-old Brazilian has failed to make either of José Mourinho’s first two Premier League squads, and now looks set for a second consecutive La Liga move.

The latest rumour comes courtesy of the Cadena SER radio network, whose Valencia branch claim to have had word from “official sources” in England. They report that Pereira is set to join fallen giants Valencia CF — a club last spotted suffering weekly humiliations under the aegis of the hapless Gary Neville. They finished in the bottom half of the table last season, and are now hoping the experienced Marcelino can lead them to bigger and brighter things.

To be honest, the Pereira rumour raises more questions than answers. It remains unclear in Cadena SER’s report whether Valencia are looking to sign Pereira on a loan or permanent deal; instead they just refer to a “cesión”, which roughly translates to “transfer”. That would seem to suggest a permanent move, but we really can’t see Mourinho sanctioning his sale. What’s more, Cadena claim that Pereira would be brought in to replace the recently departed João Cancelo, though given Cancelo’s a full-back, and Pereira very much isn’t, it’s all rather peculiar.

We wouldn’t be surprised if there was some truth to the claim — a loan move could do him good — but we would be very surprised if Pereira left permanently. And if Valencia really do fancy trying him out in defence this season, they should be every bit as entertaining to watch as they were under Neville ...