Brazilian playmaker Matheus Pereira looks set to leave West Bromwich Albion following an impressive debut campaign in the Premier League with the Baggies, scoring 10 and assisting six of their 33 league goals.
Following Sam Allardyce’s sides relegation to the Championship, it will be a difficult task to keep hold of the former Sporting Lisbon man, whose form this season has shown that he is more than capable of playing in a top-flight league, whether it be in England or abroad.
RB Leipzig are the favourites to sign Pereira from West Brom, as the Bundesliga outfit are looking to add more goals to their side. Emil Forsberg and Marcel Sabitzer are Leipzig’s top scorers with eight goals to their name which is two fewer than Pereira, which is very impressive on the Brazilian’s part, as he has been playing for 19th in the Premier League, as opposed to 2nd in the Bundesliga.
Pereira previously played in the Bundesliga for FC Nuremberg in 2018/19, managing three goals and two assists in 19 appearances, having being played out on the wings in 13 of these matches, as Nuremberg were relegated with just 19 points to their name.
Leicester City have also been linked with a move for West Brom’s Pereira, following an impressive debut campaign in the Premier League.
Brendan Rodgers side are in a good place at present, as they are regularly competing for a place in the Champions League and are looking to increase their squad size and depth. Of late, Leicester have switched their formation to a 5-2-1-2 and 5-3-2 which would allow room for the likes of Pereira to feature in behind the likes of Jamie Vardy and Kelechi Iheanacho.
When comparing the likes of Pereira to Ayoze Perez who has often featured in the forward line, the West Brom man has scored eight more, as well as making five more assists in all competitions this season, in two less appearances than the Spaniard.
West Ham United are also in the race to sign Pereira from West Brom, as the Hammers are looking at adding to their attacking options, as well as backup plans if they fail to sign Jesse Lingard on a permanent deal from Manchester United.
Pereira would be an ideal signing, as he has a much better output in terms of goal contributions than the likes of Pablo Fornals, as the Spaniard has four goals and three assists to his name this campaign. The 25-year-old could also be a long term replacement for Manuel Lanzini, who looks as though he might not have a future at the London Stadium, as he has played just 560 minutes in the Premier League this season.
West Ham are priced at 6/1 to sign Pereira in the summer transfer window.
Aston Villa are rumoured to be looking at the Brazilian playmaker.
With Egyptian winger Trezeguet set to be out for a substantial period of time, following the news that he is set to undergo knee surgery, as well as Ross Barkley’s poor form at Villa Park on his loan spell from Chelsea, Pereira would be a viable option for the Villains, who are looking to add creativity to their side, as they look to shift away some of their reliance on star midfielder Jack Grealish.
Barkley is without a goal contribution since late January, having managed three goals and one assist in 24 matches, of which two of these goals came in his first two matches for Dean Smith’s side in October. The 27-year-old has struggled badly in Grealish’s absence and it looks unlikely that he will be re-signed by Villa next season.
Pereira is priced at 7/1 to trade in West Brom for Villa in the summer.
Marcelo Bielsa is said to be an admirer of Pereira. The Brazilian’s creativity could allow him to flourish if he was to be signed by the Elland Road club, due to the attacking style of play that Bielsa opts to go for.
Striker Patrick Bamford is the only Leeds player that has more goal contributions than Pereira this season, which begs the question as to what the midfielder could achieve in terms of goals and assists if he was to play in a much more attacking setup than what he is used to at West Brom.
Crystal Palace are the final team on this list of clubs that are interested in the 25-year-old.
At present, the Eagles have the oldest starting line-up in the Premier League, which is something that they will be looking to address via signing younger players. With Andros Townsend’s contract running out at the end of the current campaign, Pereira could perhaps be Palace’s option to replace the England international on the right-wing, as he has played there on 15 occasions this season.
Pereira is priced at 10/1 to move to Palace at the end of the season.
