Erik ten Hag can prove former Tottenham midfielder wrong with Facundo Pellistri decision

After an impressive pre-season campaign with the first-team, Facundo Pellistri will have been hoping to kick on and try and break into the Manchester United first-team. The youngster scored in the friendly win over Liverpool and also featured against Atletico Madrid, before picking up an injury.

His ankle injury kept him out for a number of matches, and it is only in recent weeks that the 20-year-old has started to feature in a Red shirt once again.

Pellistri, despite yet failing to establish himself as a United regular, has made seven appearances for Uruguay, where he has registered three assists. It was expected by many that the attacker would go out on loan this season in order to get consistent game time under his belt, but manager Erik ten Hag kept him around, and could utilise him in the coming weeks and months.

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Given that he has received regular call-ups for his country in the past year, some former players and pundits have suggested that Pellistri should have considered leaving the Reds in search of frequent game time. Speaking in September, former Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Gus Poyet suggested that Pellistri should have thought about moving on from Old Trafford.

"Yes, Pellistri will struggle to get game time. It would be good for him to go somewhere and play, because the World Cup is around the corner and he is very important for the Uruguay team because the coach [Diego Alonso] has lots of faith in his ability, he's a proper winger," Poyet told Midnite.

"He needs to find a place to play, like Luis Suarez who is playing at Nacional week in week out, training with the first team and getting game time three months before