Matheus Pereira explains ‘absurd’ reason why he left West Brom
Former West Brom star Matheus Pereira has described winning promotion to the Premier League with the Baggies as his “best professional moment”.
The Brazilian spent two seasons at West Brom between 2019 and 2021 and starred both in the Championship and the English top flight.
He eventually left for Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal for an “absurd” amount of money after the Baggies were relegated but looks back on his time at the club with fondness.
In an interview with the Players’ Tribune [18 April], he said: “I ended up playing in the second division, but in England. My new club was West Bromwich [Albion]. Despite yet another change, and I was fed up with them, I jumped at this opportunity. The project was very good — and, in the financial part, equally so. There was a clause in the contract that obligated the club to buy me for a lot of money if I played 30 games or if the team moved up to the Premier League. Both things happened. It was my best professional moment.
“I played well, I felt important to the team, to the fans, and the crazy odds of life were on my side again: a Croatian on the team, Krovinovic, who had played for Benfica and spoke Portuguese, helped me a lot. The craziest thing of all is that we were competing for the same position. Despite this, at no point did he tease me or stop reaching out to me.
“It was another angel that football put in my life. That voice of God, remember? ‘Matthew, I’m taking care of you.’ Only one thing bothered me: my relationship with my family was bad and, to stay focused on my career and have peace, I had to make a very difficult decision: to move away from my parents for good. We stopped talking to each other, I cut off all contact.
“In both seasons, I was a standout for West Brom. I performed with a regularity that I had never had before. But that didn’t stop the team from returning to the second division. It was the time of the Covid pandemic, and the clubs decided to hold back on investments. An absurd proposal came from Al-Hilal, from Saudi Arabia, and I moved once again.”
Matheus Pereira was magnificent for West Brom
Pereira may not have been able to keep West Brom in the Premier League, but there is no denying his performances for the club were superb.
In his first season – 2019/20 – the Brazilian scored eight goals and recorded a whopping 20 assists in 42 Championship appearances as the Baggies finished second and earned automatic promotion, fending off fierce competition from Brentford and Fulham, who both finished just two points further back.
A porous defence saw West Brom relegated from the top flight the following season, but Pereira almost single-handedly carried the side’s attacking threat, scoring 11 times and registering six assists in 33 Premier League outings. His combined total of 17 direct goal contributions was nearly 50 per cent of the club’s total league goals scored tally of 35.
Pereira’s career has entered a period of drift since leaving West Brom – but both he and fans can look back fondly on their time together.
In other West Brom news, Corberan has been predicted to make two changes for the Baggies’ clash with Leicester City.
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