Andreas Pereira determined to prove his worth and win Manchester United first-team role

Manchester United midfielder Andreas Pereira is determined to win over Jose Mourinho during the club's pre-season campaign and force his way into the first-team at Old Trafford.

Pereira, 21, made his senior United debut under Louis van Gaal in 2015 but spent last season on loan in La Liga with Granada. While the club was relegated to the second tier of Spanish football at the end of the 2016-17 campaign, the versatile midfielder was one of the players to emerge with his reputation thoroughly enhanced.

During his time in Spain, Pereira kept in frequent contact with Mourinho and his United staff and remained determined to return to Manchester and fight for his spot.

Having travelled with his parent club to the United States as part of the squad for the pre-season tour, the Brazil Under-20 international now feels now is the time to take his chance.

"I am very happy that I am back and I can be part of this team," Pereira told MUTV.

"I will try to do my best to stay here, get an important role for the season, to help my team-mates and to impress the manager.

"It boosts me that the people here trust the young players. I am very happy for the young players and I want to be a part of this team as well."

While Pereira was given his senior debut during Van Gaal's reign at Old Trafford, his relationship with the Dutchman soured during the 2015-16 season after his attempts to secure a loan move were blocked.

Under Mourinho, the creative midfielder has enjoyed a much more stable and open relationship with his manager, who sanctioned his move to Granada last summer despite wanting the player to stay in England and join Fulham.

"I was honest with him and he was honest with me," Pereira told the Guardian last year on recalling his first interactions with Mourinho. "I like this about him. He said: 'If you stay, you'll get a game, you'll play in the cup', but that's not what I needed and he thought that as well, so it was better to go on loan.

"I told him I would go anywhere he thought fit. He would like me to go to Fulham but it didn't go through and then I had this option. Spain is my kind of football, I was happy Granada were interested."