Andreas Pereira was handed a new four-year contract last month by Manchester United, and reports suggest he will play a more prominent role under manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

The lack of central midfield signings this summer is a major surprise to many fans and pundits, but it appears the Red Devils see Scott McTominay and Pereira as perfect candidates to fill the void left by Ander Herrera and Marouane Fellaini.

While McTominay has shown his potential during pre-season, Pereira hasn’t been as convincing despite some good spells against both Inter and Tottenham. So what does Solskjaer see in the Brazilian?

Mobility

Solskjaer is keen to move towards a style of play which relies on faster, more mobile players. In contrast to Nemanja Matic, Pereira is more able to take part in counter-attacks and take up spaces further up the pitch.

In possession, he is likely to run with the ball (making 3.55 dribbles per match according to Wyscout) and is less inclined to offload the ball at the first opportunity. He plays fewer lateral balls than Matic, Herrera and Fellaini, as well as fewer backward passes.

Last season, Pereira did actually average fewer passes per 90 minutes (44.73) than Herrera (55.16) and Matic (57.8), but that is likely due to the fact he was playing further up the pitch and wasn’t involved as much in build-up play.

The 23-year-old will need to improve on his passing accuracy, though, having the lowest percentage (83.73) with most of the central midfielders closer to 89%.

Attacking Intent

Part of the reason why Pereira’s accuracy is lower is to to do with his desire to make something happen. The Brazilian averaged the most key passes per 90 minutes (0.27) other than Paul Pogba last campaign, tied with Fellaini, and ahead of Matic, Herrera, and McTominay.

In terms of through balls, the midfielder made 0.89 per 90 minutes, higher than Herrera (0.8) and far more than Fellaini (0.27). He only made one assist, but considering he only played 1014 minutes last campaign, he actually averaged a higher number per 90 minutes compared to a number of his United teammates.

From those numbers, you can clearly see why Solskjaer sees potential in Pereira. He certainly offers more in the attacking third than the rest, with the important exception of Pogba, and he certainly fits into the style of play that the Norwegian is trying to implement.

Consistency will be crucial, though, and if he can replicate and even improve on what he did in a United shirt last season, he could be a valuable asset to the squad.