Dan Watts, who runs the @Baggies_Facts Twitter account, joined host Kevin DeVries on the latest edition of the EPL Round Table podcast to discuss all things West Bromwich Albion and the pair spent some time talking about Matheus Pereira during the show.
After spending the 2019/20 season on loan at The Hawthorns, Pereira has joined the Baggies on a permanent basis for £8.19m. He is under contract with Albion until the end of June 2024, as per Transfermarkt.
The Brazilian enjoyed a very positive 2019/20 campaign with the Baggies, scoring eight goals and providing 16 assists in England’s second tier, earning a stellar overall rating of 7.41 from his 42 league appearances, according to WhoScored.
Pereira was the top assist provider in the Championship last season and only Brentford’s Said Benrahma earned a higher overall WhoScored rating than him in England’s second tier last term out of all players to have played in more than the average number of games in the league.
With all of that in mind, it may be fair to say that the former Sporting CP man played a significant role in helping the Baggies to earn promotion to England’s top flight and it mightn’t be too surprising that Watts was full of praise for him during his recent appearance on the EPL Round Table podcast.
He said: “I don’t know whether many listeners will have seen much of Matheus Pereira [last] season, but that boy can play football.
“We paid £8-9m for him after his loan agreement came to an end and he’s probably already worth £25-30m.
“He will probably go to the very top and I just hope that it’s not as soon as maybe even January or the season after the coming season.
“I just hope we get to see him play in a Baggies shirt for a couple of years at least, he is so fantastic.”
Is Matheus Pereira good enough for the Premier League?
YES
NO
TIF Thoughts…
So, as can be seen in what Watts had to say, he seems to believe that Pereira is Premier League quality and given his impressive displays for the Baggies last season, it is difficult to argue with his assessment of the player.
Hopefully, for West Brom, Pereira can carry his impressive form from the 2019/20 Championship campaign into the 2020/21 Premier League campaign.
If he manages to do so, then he will likely be a key part of Slaven Bilic’s squad for Albion’s first season in the top flight since the 2017/18 season.