Former Man United star snubbed Arsenal move after Sir Alex Ferguson chat

Sir Alex Ferguson was eager to sign the player ahead of Arsenal

Marcus Chan

Published 15:06 31 Jul 2023 GMT+1

Sir Alex Ferguson convinced Andreas Pereira to join Manchester United instead of his boyhood club Arsenal.

During his 27-year tenure, Ferguson established himself as arguably the greatest manager of all time after he led United to a host of trophies including 13 Premier League titles and two Champions Leagues.

Many players were lured to United as they could not pass up a chance to play under Ferguson.

Former United player Pereira was no exception, the Brazilian was close to moving to Arsenal, a club which he supported as a kid, but then Ferguson intervene.

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Speaking on The American Dream podcast, he said: “It was really special. I was speaking with my dad and my head was on Arsenal, I wanted to go to Arsenal.

“I was a fan and I liked the way they played football. It was at the time that Wilshere was getting his first games and I got a shirt from Wilshere and I loved this shirt.

“It came out that United were interested and I was always a fan of Cristiano Ronaldo, and my Dad said ok let's go and see how it is over there. In my head, I was going to visit and my head was in Arsenal, but Sir Alex Ferguson came and said it was nice to meet me, and I was in shock.”

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Pereira continued: “But it wasn't just me, it was my Father, I never see him in shock with anyone and he didn't know what to do or to say hi.

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“He said to me 'I always have a place for a Brazilian in my team, I saw you in the Nike Cup.' And when he said that I was like 'I'm staying here, I don't care about Arsenal, I love Ronaldo, I love Rooney, I love everyone.”