Penarol’s vice-president has made an exciting claim about new Manchester United signing Facundo Pellistri and his role this season.
After a disappointing few months, Manchester United decided to make a number of moves on Deadline Day to salvage something from their transfer window. And one of the new faces to arrive on the day was 18-year-old Uruguayan winger Facundo Pellistri.
Pellistri was signed from Penarol for a reported transfer fee of around £9 million. The youngster has only played a handful of games at senior level though and has a mere 2 goals to his name. As a result, not many United fans are expecting him to come in and immediately make an impact. Instead, he is expected to be one for the future.
If Penarol vice-president Rodolfo Cantino is to be believed though, Pellistri is set to be involved in first-team action from the onset. The Uruguayan club had even tried to keep him on loan till January but the Red Devils insisted on having him at Old Trafford immediately.
As reported by The Sun, Cantino said:
"“We tried in every way but they argued that they wanted the player now. It’s normal, when an European club buy a player, they travel immediately.“Pellistri goes straight to the first team. Going to play. In the negotiation they asked me if I could guarantee them if he was in the bubble because they need him. Then it will be a matter of the manager if he uses him.”"
It is not hard to see why Manchester United would want him at the club though. Their entire transfer window was spent chasing one right winger after the other without much avail.
The Jadon Sancho transfer saga has been well documented, while there were also strong rumours surrounding the likes of Ousmane Dembele, Federico Chiesa and Douglas Costa. None of them failed to materialise though.
As a result, there exists a gap at right-wing that Pellistri could fill for the time being. While the club are expected to go after a big name in that position in the future, the Uruguayan can be a short-term fix there right now. And who knows, if he impresses with his performances, there might not even be need for Manchester United to splash the cash.