Andreas Pereira is reflecting on the moment he moved from PSV Eindhoven to Manchester United on his 16th birthday when his mind switches to murderous intent.



“It was a big step and in the beginning it was a little bit hard, a lot of things are different,” he tells The Athletic. “But for United I would even kill to be here. It is my biggest dream.”



In reality, Pereira probably draws the line at bumping people off to get a game but you get his point, which is expressed with real conviction in the bowels of Old Trafford. And as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer continues his attempts to reshape United it is an attitude that cannot be taken for granted.



Mentality is only half the battle, of course, and the question this season, as Pereira has featured regularly for the first time, is whether he possesses enough quality to go with it. In autumn defeats away to West Ham United, Newcastle United and Bournemouth, where creativity was cut off at the mains,...