Andreas Pereira insists that Fulham are an ‘under-rated’ Premier League side and has urged his team-mates to aim higher ahead of the forthcoming season.

A confident Pereira told the Evening Standard that leaving Manchester United for Craven Cottage two summers ago was the best decision of his career.

The Brazilian international said:

“I’m 100 per cent sure Fulham are under-rated. It’s because, in the past, maybe Fulham always went up and down. Now, people are getting used to the different image of Fulham that Marco has created. For sure, we are under-rated. If you look at last season, we played good football, beat the big teams and can compete with them. That’s shown how far we’ve come.

This season, we have to aim a little bit higher. After two years consolidating our place in the Premier League, it looks different at Fulham now. We need to look a little bit like Brighton have done, aim for that.”

Pereira, linked with a move to Chelsea and Marseille in recent weeks, says he is very settled in SW6.

“I think it was the best decision I made in my life. To come to live and play here, to enjoy my football, to get back into the national team with great players, to enjoy my football in the Premier League, leaving is the best decision I made. The time I was there, I really enjoyed being at a fantastic club. But I don’t regret leaving. We [the players in my situation] have this desire to show it was wrong that we didn’t play.

With everyone’s help around me [at Fulham], I achieved a great season. We started the season by losing a very important player, [Aleksandar] Mitrovic. We had to search for the way we have to play without him. In January, Rodrigo [Muniz] came in, scored all the goals and made my life easier!”