Les Parry: Manchester United’s Facundo Pellistri is fearless | OneFootball

Academy player performance manager Les Parry has told Manchester United fans they’re right to be excited about Facundo Pellistri.

The young Uruguayan was announced as a first-team signing but has featured for the youth teams before being sent out on loan.

Pellistri enjoyed a successful time in Spain with Alaves and it looks like he could remain there for the upcoming campaign too.

United supporters haven’t seen him make his debut yet and so had to settle on watching him for the reserves or later in La Liga.

He made a decent 12 appearances for Alaves, amassing roughly 500 minutes, which is a little more than half of what the likes of Axel Tuanzebe got at Old Trafford.

According to the club’s official website, Parry said: “He did well and they loved him. He’d have played more but picked up an injury three-quarters of the way through.

“He got back for the final two or three games and was Man of the Match against Atletico Madrid, who ended up winning the league.

“At the time, he was still 19, may have just touched 19, so he’s done tremendously well. At 19 [his birthday was on 20 December], to play in La Liga, hold his own and excel is amazing.

“He is fearless. He’s brave and doesn’t duck out of tackles. He goes for headers meaning to go for headers – he doesn’t just jump.

“And, when he runs at defenders, one thing you can’t let Facundo do is get into the box.

“When he gets into the box, he has fantastic feet and leaves people standing. As you say, the fans really liked him there.

“The chap there, our link, used to send me all the press cuttings and bits and bobs about him. He did really, really well.”

The Peoples Person last covered how Pellistri had plenty of options in Spain, though Alaves were most keen on a second loan.

The more minutes in men’s football the exciting winger can get the better, particularly since he won’t feature enough for Manchester United if he were to stay beyond the summer.

Even if Ole Gunnar Solskjaer‘s side fails in their pursuit of Borussia Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho, he’ll still be far from the top of the pecking order for the options on the wings.

Pellistri has no issues with being in Spain for another year and there’ll likely be a spot open for him in United’s first-team by the time he next comes back.