Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo has given an honest verdict on his Uruguay teammate Facundo Pellistri, who has been touted as one of the exciting players to keep an eye on. The Manchester United winger has been called up on international duty by Uruguay, where he already has 6 caps to his name. While the 20-year-old is yet to make his first-team debut for the Red Devils, he has been included in the match-day squad by Erik ten Hag.
Pellistri was brought in by United from Uruguayan side Penarol in the summer of 2020 for a fee of £7 million. A promising talent, the winger was inducted into Man United’s youth set-up where he plied his trade with the Under-21s. He made 8 appearances there, scoring 3 goals and providing an assist. United then loaned Pellistri to Spanish side Deportivo Alaves, where he spent 18 months featuring in 35 games.
Araujo names the Manchester United winger as the one who ‘surprised’ him the most
The Barcelona defender will once again be sharing the pitch alongside the Manchester United winger as Uruguay face Iran and Canada in their final friendlies before the FIF World Cup. Pellistri almost has his ticket booked with the La Celeste for the world tournament as he gears up to announce himself on the global stage.
He was used by Ten Hag in United’s pre-season friendlies, where they were slated to face Liverpool, Crystal Palace, Aston Villa, Atletico Madrid and Melbourne Victory. While he managed good 45 minutes against Liverpool, scoring a goal in the 4-0 routing, an ankle injury however during the Atletico game hindered his development with the first-team.
But he is back in his national colours as his teammate Ronald Araujo described how it felt training alongside the 20-year-old. While speaking with El Pais, the Barca player was quizzed about who among the Uruguayan lot which consists of talents such as Fede Valverde, Darwin Nunez, Rodrigo Bentancur impressed him the most, he said:
“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 Pellestri surprised me quite a bit. 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.”
While chances at club level football have been limited for the youngster, Pellistri now has the opportunity to make his case across the two games to be included in first-team football before the World Cup. United manager Ten Hag too has assured that he has a place for the winger in his first-team project, despite the £86 million acquisition of Antony who plays in the same position.
