Andreas Pereira
Pereira (right) scored his first goal for Granada on Saturday Getty

Andreas Pereira says he is ready to return to Manchester United if Jose Mourinho needs him.

Pereira, 20, left Old Trafford during the summer transfer window to join La Liga side Granada on a season-long loan. The Brazil Under-20 international has featured regularly for the Spanish club this term, making 13 appearances in all and scoring his first goal against Sevilla on Saturday (3 December).

The versatile midfielder was handed his Premier League debut by Louis van Gaal at Old Trafford during the 2014-15 season. His relationship with the Dutchman soured a year later, however, with Pereira revealing in an interview the manager had gone back on his word having promised to allow him to leave on loan when first-team opportunities were not on offer.

But since leaving for Granada, Pereira has been in regular contact with Mourinho and still has designs on returning to Old Trafford to win a first-team role.

"We are always in contact and we talk after my games," Pereira told Goal. "If Manchester United needs me, I am always ready.

"The experience here in Spain has been very good, even though the club has struggled a bit. But I think we have been improving game by game and the last two games it showed that we are on the right track.

"I came here to play games, get a good experience playing in a top league and then to go back [to United] and to fight for a spot in the squad."

In an interview with Beyond the Pitch earlier this season, Pereira revealed the extent of his strained relationship with van Gaal, who was replaced by Mourinho in May.

Despite being told he would have opportunities to play in the first team during the second-half of the 2015-16 season, the midfielder saw just 53 minutes of action in total in all competitions from January onwards.

"Of course I was disappointed because I wanted to play, I think every player wants to play," he said of his failed attempts to secure a loan. "I was disappointed I couldn't play more minutes. Of course, I could have done better but at that moment I trusted the manager and it didn't happen the way I wanted to, but that's life so we learn about that as well."