Manchester United academy graduate, Joel Castro Pereira has left Old Trafford on loan for Scottish Premiership side Hearts for the rest of the 2019-20 season. The 23-year old custodian came up through the ranks in Old Trafford and has been a part of the club since 2012 and signed his professional deal with the Red Devils back in 2015. However, Pereira has made only three senior team appearances for the club as he is below in the pecking order at Old Trafford which has David De Gea as their mainstay between the sticks, with Sergio Romero and Lee Grant also ahead of the Portuguese custodian. Hence in search of game time, Pereira feels that a loan move will be beneficial to develop his skills and come back stronger next season.
He wants to follow the path of Dean Henderson who is also a Manchester United academy graduate and spent last season on loan at Sheffield United and found his way back to the Premier League with the Blades after a series of impressive performances from the England U-21 international. Pereira with Hearts will look to follow the same route of Henderson and find his way back to Old Trafford.
This is the fifth stint for the Portuguese on loan and he wants to give his everything for the Hearts and is likely to make his debut against Motherwell. The Portuguese goalkeeper will overcome the competition of Zdenek Zlamal and Colin Doyle at the Tynecastle Park considering both the goalkeepers are in their thirties. The Hearts manager, Craig Levein believes that Pereira will only increase his chances considering his strengths between the sticks. However, the tactician does not want to keep things to himself without giving away too much about his new acquisition.
Pereira also feels optimistic about his new challenge but he wants to create too much hype of his quality and then fail at the main stage.
“It is better that I keep them to myself!” Pereira said.
“I like to play with my feet, like to come out with crosses … maybe shot-stopping, I think I am OK! I will keep my strengths to myself because, if I talk about them and then do not show it, that is my bad! I am here to fight for as many minutes as I can. There are three other good goalkeepers here and the decision is up to the manager,” he added.
“I will give my best in training and, if I play, in the game too. Both clubs spoke and well, we will see what happens now. If I do not train hard and do not do great things, maybe I do not deserve to play. I will work hard every day and hopefully get the minutes that I want.”
The 23-year old custodian always knew that he was going out on loan and while he had multiple options he though having experience in United Kingdom can be beneficial also will keep him close to the vicinity of the club to judge his progress.
He further went on to add, “I knew from the start I was going on loan, I was getting prepared to go out. We saw all the options and had a chat at United and ended up choosing Hearts as the best option for me. I think it was important for me to stay in the UK, it is not far from Manchester. That was an important part. I had options abroad but I think it was important for me to have experience in the UK.”
