The first international break of the season is here and a host of Manchester United players have departed to represent their countries – a whopping 20 of them to be precise.
Facundo Pellistri has been a regular fixture in the Uruguay squad for quite some time now despite struggling for minutes on the pitch at Alaves over the last two seasons.
Pellistri was part of United’s squad in pre-season and made a goalscoring start against Liverpool in Thailand but had the rest of the summer cut apart due to an injury sustained in that game.
Pellistri’s stop-start summer seems to have affected the start of this season but he was named in the upcoming Uruguay squad and he has now been showered with praise by Barcelona star Ronald Araujo.
Speaking ahead of their games against Iran and Canada, Araujo admitted that he was surprised by Pellistri’s quality despite not playing regularly.
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“I think Facundo Pellistri is surprising. Obviously we know the quality that Fede Valverde, Bentancurt, Darwin have… we all know the quality they have. But Facundo Pellistri surprised me quite a bit,” Araujo told El Pais via Somos Invictos, according to Sport Witness.
“Especially since he hadn’t been playing. And more because of the level that he gave in the national team, that he was spectacular. Besides, we understood each other very well on the right wing. Facundo was the one who surprised me the most, yes.”
SN’s verdict…
Pellistri’s stay at United is nearing the point where a decision needs to be made. He gained valuable first-team experience at Alaves but the second season was frustrating.
Clearly, he possesses bags of talent and being consistently picked in the Uruguay squad without regular minutes on the pitch is nothing but a positive.
But he will turn 21 later this year and he needs to start learning his trade on the pitch. At United, that looks unlikely, especially with the big-money arrival of Antony.
