Manchester United academy graduate set for Old Trafford exit after ‘failure’ season

Facundo Pellistri is looking set to leave Manchester United this summer as Sir Jim Ratcliffe looks to cut the club’s wage bill.

Pellistri, 22, joined United in 2020 for £7.65 million from the Uruguayan side Penarol under the promise that he would be integrated into the starting XI under then-manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær.

Unfortunately for the winger, this was not the case as he had to wait over two years for his first-team debut while playing in the club’s academy and has made little impact during his time at the club as Erik ten Hag chooses the likes of Antony and Alejandro Garnacho ahead of him.

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This lack of playing time in the first team has led to the 22-year-old being shipped out of Old Trafford on loan and playing some minutes in La Liga for Alavés in the 20/21 and 21/22 seasons. His most recent departure from Manchester was in January, again returning to Spain on loan but this time for relegation-threatened Granada.

Pellistri has scored once and assisted twice in seven appearances for the side that sits 14 points adrift of safety in La Liga. The Mirror is now reporting that Sir Jim Ratcliffe is willing to show the attacker the exit to help free up United’s wage bill.

Since becoming a co-owner of the club, Sir Jim Ratcliffe and those who work for him at INEOS have started a complete overhaul of off pitch staff, signing Omar Berrada as the Red Devil’s new CEO as well as having Dan Ashworth and Jason Wilcox in waiting to become the director of football and technical director respectively.

This overhaul will also affect on-field talent. United are close to violating the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules and need to sell players first if they want to bring in their desired targets this summer.

According to The Mirror, Pellistri has “failed” to live up to expectations and now the club want to cut their losses as there seems to be no room for the Uruguayan in Erik ten Hag’s side.

This will be tough for the 22-year-old, whose contract expires in 2025. A lot of excitement surrounded his arrival in 2020, but the move hasn’t worked out for the club or the player.