Despite having already made 10 appearances for Uruguay, Facundo Pellistri only made his first senior appearance for Manchester United in the Carabao Cup victory over Carabao Cup on Tuesday night. The 21-year-old came on for the final few minutes, and still managed to record an assist for Marcus Rashford.
The young attacker, given his lack of action for the Reds, has been linked with a move away in recent months. Prior to the World Cup in Qatar, Pellistri's agent admitted that his client could look for a transfer away from Old Trafford in search of regular game time. He featured on three occasions in the Middle East and impressed on a few occasions.
Pellistri featured in the EFL Trophy victory over Barrow, and has been named on the first-team bench 14 times so far this term. The forward doesn't appear to have convinced Erik ten Hag yet, but his quality is undeniable and the Dutchman will be cautious about letting the player leave permanently.
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Speaking ahead of the World Cup, Pellistri's agent, Edgardo Lasalvia, told reporters: "I think that with a good World Cup, as we think it will have, his departure is imminent."
He added: "Facundo is going to be one of the best players in the world. I have no doubts. He has enormous potential. I saw him for the first time in Las Acacias when he was 10 or 11 years old.
"At that age, he already had technique in speed. Besides, he was good to watch. Do you know how many kicks they gave him? So many. There is a reason why Manchester United bought him."
In comparison to Alejandro Garnacho, for example, Pellistri has struggled to move up the pecking order at United. Garnacho has made 16 appearances for the first-team, registering two goals and four assists. However, while Pellistri has struggled to make his mark at Old Trafford so far, former United striker Diego Forlan previously backed his fellow Uruguayan to break into the Reds' first team in the future.
Forlan, who was his manager for a spell at Penarol, insisted in January of last year that he remains a long-term project with bags of potential.
"I think he’s adapting really well," Forlan told club media. "When they [United] talked to me about him, I told them everything – he has great potential as a player, good skills, is quick but still young.
"You know it’s not easy to arrive at a great club like Manchester United. I think being on loan at Alaves was good and now he had an opportunity to go back again. It’s a good opportunity for him, he’s still growing a little bit. In the future, he can have the opportunity to play for the first team at Manchester United."
Pellistri, who joined the Reds from Penarol in October 2020, will not have expected to become a first-team regular in the space of just a few months, but he will have at least expected to feature on more than one occasion. Forlan knew that it would take time for him to break through at Old Trafford, but also backed him to become an important player in the future.
Following his debut, the Uruguayan insisted that he wants to continue to help his United teammates achieve their ambitions for the rest of the season. Although it took a long time to happen, the Reds youngster was delighted to have finally represented the club in a competitive match.
"[It was] amazing," he told MUTV. "I have been waiting for this moment for a long time, and it came. Of course, I'm really happy because of the moment and the way it was, and that is incredible.
"I had the luck to be at Old Trafford in other squads, but unluckily I didn't enter the pitch to play. I looked at the crowd and all the time I thought 'when will my moment arrive to play?' And today was the day and I enjoyed it a lot."
It is understood that Pellistri has been attracting plenty of loan interest in the January window, but the forward also suggested that he would rather stay at United until the end of the season. A loan move could certainly benefit the youngster - given his lack of minutes - but with so many matches to come, Ten Hag might prefer to keep him at Old Trafford until at least the end of the season.
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