Sir Alex Ferguson's first words to former Man Utd wonderkid that left him gobsmacked after unexpected meeting

Former Manchester United starlet Andreas Pereira has shared how his initial encounter with Sir Alex Ferguson left him eager to join the club.

Pereira, who joined Man United's academy in 2011 after being scouted at a youth tournament for PSV Eindhoven, was pursued by several teams at the time, but United were the first to make an official approach. The Brazilian midfielder was invited to the club's Carrington training ground where he had an unexpected meeting with the legendary manager, Ferguson. The Scotsman's initial remarks during that meeting left Pereira stunned but keen to sign up.

"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," Pereira revealed on Rio Ferdinand's FIVE podcast. "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. 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 go on to spend 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.'".