Andreas Pereira is under no illusion as to what he needs to do to earn himself a regular first-team spot under Louis van Gaal at Manchester United – work hard.

The teenage midfielder has become the latest success story from Man United’s academy; he’s gone from playing U21s football to scoring under the floodlights at Old Trafford on his full senior debut and has also become an integral player for Brazil’s U20s squad, having helped them to a runners-up spot in the 2015 U20s World Cup this summer.

With so many top class players ahead of him in the pecking order, Pereira knows that the only way he is going to usurp them is by outdoing them, out-training them, showing his worth to van Gaal.

No substitute. No excuses. No shortcuts. pic.twitter.com/m7vIs2ctFv — Andreas Pereira (@andrinhopereira) October 14, 2015

It’s good he knows that because not every youngster his age does. Some get too comfortable too soon and become disillusioned by the limelight, distracted by the fame and unfortunately go off on the wrong foot. We’ve seen it all too often with the likes of Ravel Morrison where talent has been sadly wasted but you get a different sort of impression with Pereira.

Early last season, Pereira was pretty poor with the U21s in terms of his decision making and how much he would influence one match but disappear in the next. Yet, he has developed so much since then that fans don’t see that side of him any more. That’s all down to his own hard work, his own grit and determination to improve and it’s paid off massively.

Pereira does have a tough road ahead of him breaking into United’s first-team on a regular basis just like any youngster would but the fact his attitude and focus seem to be streamlined in the right direction, tunnel visioned by the right road ahead, he’s on the perfect path and now simply needs to take his chances when they arise.