Andreas Pereira set for manchester United return; Lazio not ready to pay £21m fee

Andreas Pereira is set for a Manchester United return as Lazio are reportedly unlikely to fork out the £21million loan fee to sign him permanently amid a dismal loan spell.

The 25-year-old has been at the Serie A side since the start of the season on a temporary deal but has started just two league matches all season.

Pereira found himself surplus to requirements at Old Trafford at the start of the season following the £40million arrival of Donny van de Beek, who joined Scott McTominay, Paul Pogba and Fred in the Red Devils midfield pecking order.

And according to the Daily Star, Lazio are not prepared to pay the £21million fee to make the loan deal a permanent one due to Pereira's lack of displays.

The midfielder has not started a Serie A match since the beginning of December and has played just 75 minutes of league football since the start of 2021.

Pereira also failed to start in any of Lazio's Champions League group stage matches and was unused for the club's last-16 first-leg defeat to Bayern Munich last month.

When the 25-year-old has been used by Lazio boss Simone Inzaghi, he has often played in his natural midfield role but has occasionally been asked as cover for a left-wing role.

His overall Lazio record stands at one goal and two assists in 25 matches so far this season with Inzaghi's side only capable of achieving an unlikely top-four finish during the final weeks of the season.

Former PSV Eindhoven youth team player Pereira was signed by Manchester United as a teenager back in November 2011 before making his senior debut under Louis van Gaal three years later.

The Brazilian international, who has been capped once by the El Selecao senior team, has made 75 United appearances in all competitions since then but has failed to nail down a regular spot in the team.

Out of those 75 appearances, 40 of them came last season as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side finished third and reached the Europa League semi-finals - but Pereira's form was not good enough to keep him at Old Trafford for the current season.

Pereira's contract at United expires in the summer of 2023 with the Red Devils facing a decision to either integrate him back into the first-team squad or find a new club for the midfielder.