Ex-Hearts goalkeeper Joel Pereira set to land English Championship move from Manchester United

The former Portuguese U21 international failed to impress in his spell at Tynecastle

Joel Pereira is set for a loan move to the English Championship. Picture: SNS

Former Hearts goalkeeper Joel Pereira is set to land a move to the English Championship this summer.

The 24-year-old returned to Manchester United following the termination of the SPFL season, joining back in with the first-team training.

A move to Huddersfield Town is on the horizon with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer keen for Pereira, who is contracted with the Red Devils until 2021, to get games with David De Gea and Dean Henderson to battle for the No.1 spot, according to The Sun.

The Portuguese’s time at Tynecastle was far from a success with the goalkeeper much-maligned come the end of his loan spell due to errors in key matches.

He was signed to compete with Zdenek Zlamal and Colin Doyle following a nervy start to the season from the Czech who had begun the campaign as No.1.

It was a chance phone call from Manchester United to former boss Craig Levein which brought about Joel Pereira’s arrival, something the ex-manager likened to Christmas time.

“I got a call from Manchester United asking if I was needing anything,” said Levein. “It is almost like Santa Claus phoning you and asking: ‘what are you wanting?’ 

“We know we are not getting a goalie from Man U who has played in the first team regularly so there is an element of risk in it. But he is well regarded and everybody I have spoken to says he possesses the right character to do well. I made a lot of phone calls to people at Man U who know the boy himself and everything that came back was hugely positive."

Pereira, however, failed to impress in his 25 appearances for the club, shipping 43 goals and keeping just five clean sheets.

He was dropped by Daniel Stendel for the final five fixtures of the season before the termination of the league season.