Exclusive: West Brom handed Matheus Pereira warning by ex-Baggie
We’re delighted to welcome former West Brom striker Kevin Phillips as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at The Hawthorns…
Kevin Phillips has backed Matheus Pereira to shine in the Premier League after being officially signed by West Brom on a permanent deal.
Albion finally announced the 24-year-old as a full-time member of their squad on Monday after months of waiting for his loan switch from Sporting CP to be made permanent.
Pereira lit up the Championship last season, scoring eight goals and supplying 20 assists in 42 league appearances.
Phillips has seen enough from the Brazilian attacker to suggest he can do well in the top-flight but has warned that he might not see as much of the ball than he did in the Championship and might have to add something extra to his game.
“You don’t want to put too much pressure on him,” Phillips told West Brom News.
“I’m not going to get too carried away but from what I’ve seen from Pereira, his technical ability, pace, he can get into great positions in between lines, he’s clever and also he can chip in with goals.
“I don’t see any issues with him stepping up to the Premier League but it’s going to be difficult.
“West Brom were so used to having possession last season, it’s going to be a lot different next season so he’s going to have to add a little bit more to his game. Maybe working harder and helping his team out more but I don’t see a problem.”
It’s not just the lack of possession that Pereira needs to worry about when West Brom are playing in the Premier League again.
The former Sporting attacker went down to ground very easily at times last season and was often called out by opposition fans for his play-acting.
With VAR in the Premier League, it’s going to be hard for Pereira to get away with a lot of that simulation and we all hope he can cut it out of his game.
Of course, Pereira is great on free-kicks and his ability to win fouls helps him get more chances to create and score goals.
But there needs to be a line drawn by Slaven Bilic and his coaching staff and hopefully, Pereira doesn’t cross it.
In other West Brom news, Bilic has identified his top summer target.
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