Manchester United: Facundo Pellestri impresses Erik ten Hag after taking ‘the next step’ in debut against Charlton | football news

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Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag says he sees a future in Facundo Pellestri after the forward made his long-awaited debut for the club after more than two years.

Pellestri, 21, signed under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer from Uruguayan Penarol in 2020, but had to wait until Tuesday night’s 3-0 Carabao Cup quarter-final win over Charlton to make his debut off the bench.

Despite coming on with six minutes of regulation time remaining, Pellestri made an impact by assisting Marcus Rashford’s first goal to make it 2-0 and leave his manager smiling.

Asked if Pellestri will stay beyond January, Ten Hag said: “I see a future in him and he’s doing really well and we’ll have to see what’s best.”

Pellestri, who has had two loan spells with Spain’s Alaves since joining United, was part of Uruguay’s World Cup squad and featured in all three group matches before their exit from the tournament.

Ten Hag, who described Pellestri’s performance on Tuesday night as “energetic”, kept a close eye on him in Qatar and noted the winger’s fine form upon his return to United.

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Highlights of the Carabao Cup quarter-final match between Manchester United and Charlton

“He’s progressing, also against Everton [in the behind-closed-doors game] I was really happy with his performance, I was happy with his performance in the World Cup, his progress is really good.

“He came in and made an impact so that’s the next step. I say well done, better, and keep going.”

A bright future at Old Trafford with the brilliance of youth

It was a positive night for United’s youth as the 17-year-old Kobe Maeno made his debut and looked confident in midfield under the Old Trafford lights.

Meanwhile, Alejandro Garnacho continued his fine form in the off-season by terrorizing the Charlton defense before Pellestri took his chance from the bench.

“I was happy with the performance, especially with some youngsters on the field,” said Ten Hag.

“Alejandro Garnacho, we’ve seen a lot of him in the last few weeks, but again he showed some really good action and was a threat. He’s come up against his opponent so many times and that’s great – we love these guys.

“Kobe Maino was great, for the first time, he was good. Pellestri came in and was really lively. Good attitude, good pass from Rashford 2-0.”

Tin Hag wants more cruelty

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Manchester United manager Eric ten Hag insists that reaching the quarter-finals in the Carabao Cup is “nothing” and that his focus is only on continuing to win matches.

Ten Hag sees signs of progress in his squad but wants United to be more ruthless as they head into a tough series of matches, which kick off against Premier League champions Manchester City on Saturday.

He added, “In the first half hour I was very happy. I was not happy because I was not in front of the goal.” “We need to be more effective there because we created good chances in the first half hour.

“We should have scored more in the first half and also in the second half there were good saves and a few moments when we needed an extra pass, but we didn’t, so until the end we had to fight for it.

“I don’t think they created really good open chances but you never know. We’re progressing after the winter break, it’s the third time we’ve won 3-0 and that’s good but we have to be more stamina.”

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