COMMENT: Andreas Pereira just needs to bite the bullet and move. Not leave. But move away on-loan from Manchester United.
It's crazy to think he's still only 20. We've been talking about the Brazilian kid for years. But, still, he is now 20. Pereira should be breaking into a first team - somewhere - and proving to us that there's more to him than simply potential.
Potential gets you a reputation. It allows your Dad to tout you around Europe, talking up the prospect of a move to PSG or Juventus. But a couple of years on, at 20, there has to be more to you than hype. You have to deliver. And the best thing Pereira can do for his United career, this season, is deliver elsewhere for another manager.
For the moment, there is a stand-off. Pereira is ignoring his manager's suggestion. He believes if he digs in his heels and sticks around, an opening will emerge.
But Jose Mourinho is having none of it. He's relegated Pereira to the other side of his infamous 'partition'. The kid is with the outcasts - and played for the unwanted in a low-key bounce game last week. And if it still hasn't twigged, last night's XI for United's opening U23 game of the season should have made things crystal clear.
There was no place for Pereira in Warren Joyce's team. Nor James Wilson, Will Keane or Tyler Blackett. Not even on the bench. A punishment? No. Simply a message: 'You've done this level, lads. Time to move forward'.
Six months ago, Pereira was all set to leave on-loan. He was eager, excited to get out and prove himself. But Louis van Gaal, playing politics, refused to sanction any move for the youngster. The then United manager had been rattled by criticism of his transfer policy and the injury-ravaged squad it had left him with. There was no way, with numbers down to the bare bones, he was going to allow Pereira to leave. Promises, according to the player's camp, had been made. But by the end of the season, nothing had changed. Even the assurance of an FA Cup appearance came to nothing.
Which makes Pereira's current stand all the more baffling. You can't accuse the lad of lacking ambition. Banging down LVG's door puts paid to that. So why the delay?
Aitor Karanka, the Middlesbrough manager, has been chasing Pereira since the end of last season. A first enquiry was lodged just days after Mourinho's appointment. And an offer has been on the table ever since.
There's a place at Boro for Pereira. Karanka has an opening he had planned to fill with Enzo Zidane, of Real Madrid, but with that deal stalling, there's a great opportunity waiting for another young midfielder to grab. It could be argued that a young player, joining a Premier League club battling the drop, could find himself quickly lost. But Karanka's no mug. He's seen enough of Pereira. The boy is his type of player. He won't be gambling with one of his loan spots on someone he doesn't believe can make an immediate impact.
Like with Adnan Januzaj, now with David Moyes at Sunderland, Pereira would be joining a manager who clearly rates him. It's been a three month long pursuit for Karanka. The Brazilian, for the sake of his United career, should just take a deep breath and jump in.
Januzaj, after trying the same strategy with Mourinho upon their return from China, soon realised there was only going to be one winner. And for all the Belgian's frustration, he left with a very loud and public assurance from the manager that if he produced for Moyes, there'd be a place waiting for him back at Old Trafford.
Pereira can confidently expect the same. His fans have been talking about his talent for years. It's now time to deliver on that potential. And Teesside, under Karanka, is as good a place as any to kick it all off.
INJURY TIME
If there is a softening from Jose Mourinho towards academy talent and opportunity, it won't stem from just the overwhelming history of Manchester United and the club's traditions.
Indeed, if Mourinho suddenly begins throwing more and more kids into his United first team, those involved will have the manager's son, Jose Jr, to thank.
Armed with a two-year contract and a member of Fulham's U18 team, Jose Jr was between the posts for his team's opening game of the season on Saturday - a 2-1 win over Chelsea.
Suddenly, Mourinho has some skin in the game - and a very different perspective when it comes to being an academy player.
Could it be, as Jose Jr makes his way at Fulham, that there'll be a greater empathy - and with that opportunity - for United's young players in the seasons ahead?
