Why West Brom should sign Matheus Pereira permanently at the earliest

According to the Express & Star, West Brom are currently weighing up the option of signing Matheus Pereira permanently in January rather than waiting until the end of the campaign to trigger the buy clause in his loan agreement. 

The Baggies had to wait until the transfer deadline day to get a loan move for Pereira over the line, with his parent club Sporting Lisbon taking a lot of time to iron out the ideal structure of a deal involving an obligation to buy. 

Having paid £750,000 to sign him on loan for the ongoing campaign, West Brom have the option to trigger the buy clause in the agreement at any point in the season by paying a fee of £8.25 million, with the baggies holding an obligation to make his stay permanent if they secure promotion to the Premier League. 

Alternatively, as per the agreement, Pereira’s loan deal would become permanent based on the number of appearances he makes throughout the season, understood to be in the range of 30 to 35. (h/t Express & Star)

West Brom, though, are willing to waste no time in securing the future of Matheus Pereira, who has been an influential performer under Slaven Bilic in the Championship this term.

The 23-year-old Belo Horizonte-born attacker has taken well to his new surroundings in the English second-tier, catching the eye with a number of impressive displays. 

Despite not being a regular starter, Pereira has already racked up 2 goals and 4 assists in 9 league appearances for the Baggies. The diminutive left-footed winger has been rotated between central attacking and wide roles by Bilic, with his natural flair and trickery, as well as his vision and eye for goal, earning him plenty of plaudits.

With Bilic preferring fellow loan recruit Filip Krovinovic in a central attacking role in his preferred 4-2-3-1 system for the first few games, the tricky winger was used more as an impact player off the bench, but he has established himself as one of the first names on the teamsheet ever since a man-of-the-match display in a 3-2 victory over Blackburn Rovers towards the end of August. 

West Brom’s unbeaten run came to an end with a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Leeds United in the midweek fixture last week but they returned to winning ways with a 4-2 thrashing of Cardiff City on Saturday, with Matheus Pereira being one of the key architects of an impressive home victory. 

The 23-year-old registered a goal and an assist to help West Brom pick up all three points in what was a memorable all-round display from the Sporting Lisbon loanee, as the Baggies went into the international break placed atop the standings in the Championship. 

With the Midlands outfit laying down a serious marker as one of the favourites for automatic promotion under Slaven Bilic, Pereira has very much been in the thick of things thus far and his ability to torment defences in the Championship effortlessly has apparently prompted the Baggies to consider making his stay permanent. 

To that end, it is worth wondering whether he is, indeed, a player who could possibly be a part of their plans moving forward if they earn promotion to the Premier League at the end of the campaign. 

However, going by what we have seen of him so far, Pereira certainly has the qualities to outgrow his humble surroundings in the Championship and it would be hard to bet against him making an impact in the top-flight in the future. 

A fee of £8.25 million shouldn’t be a huge problem for a club of West Brom’s stature, regardless of which division they play their football next season and, with that in mind, there is no point in waiting until the end of the season to decide on a permanent move, given that Pereira has already shown his class. 

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The 23-year-old is already registered at the club as a loanee and the Baggies wouldn’t have to register him once again should they sign him permanently, meaning that they aren’t likely to face any problems in exercising the buy clause in his loan deal outside of the transfer window.

That said, West Brom should look to secure his future at the earliest in a bid to avoid any complications or third-party intervention towards the end of the campaign.