Dean Saunders issues Valerien Ismael warning over Matheus Pereira amid West Brom controversy
Dean Saunders believes Valerien Ismael may have made a fatal mistake in his public criticism of West Brom attacker Matheus Pereira.
Ismael told reporters last weekend that the 25-year-old was “not committed” to the West Midlands club [Birmingham Mail] amid the Brazilian’s attempts to secure a Hawthorns exit this summer.
Pereira subsequently issued a lengthy statement on his social accounts on Monday evening, hitting back at his manager.
Speaking via talkSPORT [03/08/21], ex-Wolves manager Saunders delivered his verdict on current events.
“If you want to leave, put it in writing,” he said. “Obviously, the player can’t put it in writing, because he loses money and the fan’s respect.
“The manager has to be careful when you come out and devalue a player, because would you sign him now?
“You might question his attitude.
“I’ve seen Pereira’s letter, basically he should just put a line through that and say ‘I’m going for the money’. read between the lines.
“The fair and correct manner is you put it into writing to the club and say ‘I want to leave the club’, and the club says ‘okay we’ll put you up for sale, or no you’ve got a contract and you’re staying here’.
“I think the manager has jumped the gun a little bit.”
Cheers Dean
Saunders may be popular with Baggies after he helped to relegate the Dingles into the third-tier of English football during an unsuccessful five-month spell in 2013, but that’s probably exactly the reason he’s not best placed to give his opinion to Ismael.
Perhaps there is a point to what he’s saying in that prospective bidders may be dissuaded by Pereira’s attitude, but how long can you bunker in and hide it?
The longer Pereira remains at the club, the more likely it is that Albion supporters would grow more hopeful he would stick around, at least until January, and play an important role in our push for immediate promotion back to the Premier League.
But Ismael has been upfront and honest, and while that may be to the detriment of Pereira’s price, we all wanted clarity, and the Frenchman gave us just that.
In other West Brom news, Fabrizio Romano delivered a significant Albion transfer update on Monday night.
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