Ex-Manchester United whizz kid Andreas Pereira laid bare his stunning first encounter with Sir Alex Ferguson that left him gagging to don the red jersey.
The Brazilian prodigy joined United's academy in 2011 having been tracked playing for PSV Eindhoven's youth side. The talented midfielder was on the radar of several clubs, but United put their money where their mouth was first.
He was beckoned to the club's Carrington training centre for a surprising conversation with legendary manager Ferguson. Pereira was left gobsmacked by the Scotsman's opening remarks but was chomping at the bit to sign on the dotted line.
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TNT Sport"They sent a scout and said, 'We're interested' and at the time I had a lot of interest from other clubs. But I had always supported United so I was like 'I want to go to United. It was fast," he revealed on Rio Ferdinand's FIVE podcast.
Recollecting his visit to Carrington, he added: "When I went to the training ground, they didn't even say you are going to meet Fergie or anyone. I remember walking in Carrington, and I was like 'I want to come'. It was an amazing complex.", reports the Mirror.
"Then I was told, 'someone wants to meet you' and it was Fergie. I just remember him standing in front and I could not believe it. My dad did not know what to do. First, he said something and I did not understand it because his English is different."
What other players were completely won over by Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United? Let us know in the comment section below
"And then after that, he said, 'There is always room for a Brazilian on my team'. That stuck with me, and I did not even want to go home I just wanted to stay there straight away."
Pereira would end up spending 11 years at United, though found first-team appearances hard to come by. His final loan move was to Flamengo before he joined Fulham in 2022, though the Brazilian hailed the impact United had on his formative years in the game.
"It's been a long journey. Talent-wise and skills always came easy for me. To be hard working I always remember Warren Joyce in the reserves getting on my case. I had to run and tackle and smash people and I was like, 'What is this'," he added.
"So at 16 years old, I was like just playing with the ball, doing skills and whatever. Then at United, you have to smash people. I called my Dad and said 'I think I've made a mistake'. I spoke with Warren Joyce and he said, 'You have to practice every day'."
"I'll never forget my first session with the first team, Anderson came to me and said, 'They're going to kick you, but don't say nothing, stand up and try to kick them back'. First tackle, Scholesy smashed me. I didn't say anything, just stood up."
"After Covid, I wanted to play. I was going crazy, I wanted to play in the Premier League and show I was good enough. I was close to joining Everton, suddenly my father called me and said, 'You've never played in Brazil'. The president of Flamengo called and said, 'If you want to come you can come.'".
