Carl Anka, Laurie Whitwell, and Andy Mitten discussed the latest goings-on at Manchester United during the most recent edition of The Athletic’s Talk of the Devils podcast and during the show, Mitten spent some time discussing the Red Devils’ interest in 18-year-old Penarol winger Facundo Pellistri.
According to Transfermarkt, Manchester United’s current natural right-wing options are Tahith Chong, Jesse Lingard, and Mason Greenwood. However, thus far during his young career, Greenwood has played the majority of his games – those at youth level included – as a centre-forward, indicating that he may be more comfortable in that position. Meanwhile, neither Lingard nor Chong have managed to make a single Premier League goal contribution during the 2019/20 campaign.
|
|
As a result, ‘the right-hand side of their attack is a position Manchester United would like to strengthen,’ as stated by Mitten in an article that he recently wrote for The Athletic and in this same report, the journalist revealed that 18-year-old Uruguayan winger Pellistri is being ‘closely tracked’ by the Red Devils as a potential target for that position.
This article reveals that the winger, who plays for a Penarol side that is managed by ex-Manchester United forward Diego Forlan, has also allegedly caught the interest of both Real Madrid and Manchester City.
During his recent appearance on the Talk of the Devils podcast, Mitten discussed United’s alleged interest in the winger.
The journalist said that the winger is Forlan’s “standout player” at Penarol and the ex-Manchester United striker allegedly “wants to keep him as long as possible.”
Mitten then went on to say: “[Pellistri] is described to me as someone who is like Ryan Giggs running with the ball. He’s faster than other players who have not got the ball. He’s just got to improve his end product and by that, I mean shooting, scoring, but if you’re going to listen to anybody, then Forlan would be a fantastic person to listen to, because like Forlan, he is two-footed.
“He’s only 18 years old and United are extremely interested. They’ve been following him closely.”
Would you like to see Pellistri at Old Trafford?YES I WOULD
I'M NOT SURE
|
TIF Thoughts…
Considering that United are reportedly looking to recruit a new right-winger, Mitten’s comments about this player who is “like Ryan Giggs” may be a positive sign for Red Devils fans that the club are actively compiling a list of targets for that position and this may be an encouraging update ahead of the summer transfer window.
However, considering that United have also been linked with 20-year-old Borussia Dortmund winger Jadon Sancho, who has been one of European football’s standout players this season, ending the 2019/20 German Bundesliga season as the league’s third-highest goalscorer and second-highest assist provider, while playing at right-wing more often than any other position, Red Devils supporters may still hope that their club prioritises the England international’s signing.