Andreas Hugo Hoelgebaum Pereira was born in Duffel, Belgium, on January 1, 1996. His Brazilian father was playing there at the time while his mother is Belgian, of German descent.
Pereira started his football in Belgium at KVSK United. In 2005 he moved to PSV youth sector in Holland for six years and then from 2011-2016 he was at Manchester United.
On August 26 he made his debut for the "Red Devils" in a league cup game at Milton Keynes. His Premier League debut came on March 15 2015 against Tottenham. At the end of the season he was voted best Man. Utd Under-21 player of the year. The following season he made his debut in the Champions League against Wolfsburg. In 2016 he won the FA Cup with the Old Trafford club. After 11 games for Manchester United he was sent out on loan.
In 2016 he spent a year at Granada in the Liga, playing 37 total games with 5 goals. The following year he stayed in Spain on loan with Valencia playing 29 games with 1 goal.
In 2018 he was back in Manchester. Over the next two seasons he made another 62 appearances (40 in Premiership) with 3 goals. All in all he did not fulfil expectations and was considered a little disappointing.
In October 2020 he joined Lazio on loan but with a clause to buy of 27 million Euros. Under manager Simone Inzaghi he played 26 games in Serie A (1 goal versus Torino), 2 in Coppa Italia and 5 in the Champions League. He got playing time in Rome but was never really a regular starter. He showed flashes of class and ability but never convinced totally and was not thought worth the cost of signing him on definitely.
In 2021 he moved to Brazil on loan and joined Flamengo. He played 52 games and scored 8 goals. The "Rubro-Negro" reached the final of the Copa Libertadores but a Pereira mistake gave the victory to rivals Palmeiras.
In July 2022 Pereira was finally sold by Manchester United and was signed by Fulham in the Premier League for 9,5 million Euros. He has had a good start to the season as have the "Cottagers". Before the Qatar World Cup break he had played 15 league games with 2 goals (West-Ham, Manchester City).
At international level he first represented Belgium until Under-17's level but he then switched to Brazil. He took part in the U20's World Cup and scored in a 2-1 defeat to Serbia. On September 12, 2018 he made his debut for the "Seleção" in a 5-0 friendly win against El Salvador. He thus became the first player not born in Brazil to play for the "Verde-Oro" for 100 years.
Pereira is a talented midfielder. At Lazio there were moments where he looked as if he could establish himself but lacked the consistency to do so. It was not always clear what his best position was and that was penalising. He is obviously a good player, has skill, a good cross and shooting abilities. So far however he has not been as good as obviously Man. Utd and others had hoped. With some luck he can finally find his place in top football, with Marco Silva and Fulham in West London, that his ability deserves.
Lazio Career
Season | Total appearances (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League |
2020-21 | 33 (1) | 26 (1) | 2 | 5 |
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