‘Premier League will suit him’ – Quashie urges West Brom to seal January swoop for 23-year-old
Nigel Quashie has urged West Brom to seal a permanent deal to sign Matheus Pereira from Sporting CP at the first available opportunity in January.
Pereira, 23, has taken the Championship by storm since joining the Baggies on a season-long loan in the summer.
He has scored five goals and supplied 14 assists in 20 appearances across all competitions to help Albion open up an 11-point gap between themselves in second and Fulham in third.
Pereira’s performances have led to the Mirror reporting that Manchester United are hot on the heels of the Brazilian and ex-West Brom midfielder Quashie has called on his former club to tie up a permanent agreement as soon as possible for the in-form attacker.
“I’d say get the deal done in January at that price if I was West Brom but obviously the club’s always had great stability, it’s always been financially run to a structure that’s really fitted in with the way that the club moves,” Quashie told Football League World.
“To get that kind of price for a player like that, I don’t think there’s any hesitation to getting a deal done straight away because what happens if another club comes in and says okay, we’ll double it?
“He is worth that and I think in the long-term the Premier League will suit him even more. It’s been a great coup by West Brom.”
No one can blame Quashie for wanting West Brom to wrap up a deal for Pereira as soon as possible but if reports elsewhere are to be believed, there is no rush at all.
The Athletic journalist Steve Madeley reported via a live Q&A session on The Athletic website in November that West Brom are “legally protected from losing him to another club”.
It is understood that the Baggies have a “cast-iron deal in place to sign him for about £8million”, which suggests that if anyone wanted to sign Pereira, they would have to deal with the Black Country club and not Sporting CP.
It will certainly put some minds at rest if Albion were to confirm a permanent deal for Pereira in January but if Madeley is to be believed, the club might as well focus on other priorities, such as the futures of Grady Diangana and Nathan Ferguson.
In other West Brom news, David Prutton has predicted this weekend’s clash against Birmingham City.