Granada have announced the signing of Manchester United attacking midfielder Andreas Pereira on a season-long loan deal without an option to buy.
The talented Brazilian will spend the rest of the current season with the La Liga side and will return to United next summer.
Jose Mourinho, who answered questions at his press conference ahead of the trip to Hull City on Saturday afternoon, also confirmed Pereira’s temporary move and admitted the player is joining Granada in order to get valuable playing time this season.
“I love Pereira and I wish he could be in my squad, but he isn’t,” Mourinho said. “He will go to Granada to play.”
The 20-year-old former PSV Eindhoven player scored 1 goal in 11 first-team appearances under Louis Van Gaal last season.
Pereira was one of the best players in United’s reserve team last season, but he needs competitive first-team football if he wants to realize his potential.
Spending another season in United’s reserves wouldn’t do him much good.
Pereira should get plenty of chances to play at Granada as he’s perfectly suited to Spanish football. He’s a very technical player, so it probably won’t take him much time to adapt to the league.
Granada are almost entirely dependent on the performance of the players they sign on loan deals, so Pereira can be optimistic about his chances of establishing himself in Paco Jemez’s starting eleven.
