LONDON, July 12 — Fulham have signed Brazilian midfielder Andreas Pereira from Manchester United on a four-year contract, the newly promoted Premier League club said on Monday.

British media reported that Fulham paid an initial fee in the region of nine million pounds (RM47.4 million) for the 26-year-old, who had a year left on his United deal.

"I want to help Fulham as much as I can to be where they belong,” Pereira, who has the option of extending his contract by a further 12 months, told the club website.

"(Manager) Marco Silva was very important for this. I spoke a lot with him, and he was a key factor in me being here.” Pereira joined United from PSV Eindhoven in 2012 but failed to establish himself as a regular at Old Trafford, spending much of the last decade on loan at Granada, Valencia, Lazio and most recently Flamengo.

He made 29 appearances for the Brazilian outfit last season, scoring three times.

Pereira becomes the latest player to leave United following the departures of Paul Pogba, Juan Mata, Nemanja Matic and Jesse Lingard as new manager Erik ten Hag continues to rebuild the squad.

Fulham, who won the Championship last season, open their top-flight campaign at home to Liverpool on Aug. 6. — Reuters