'He is progressing nicely' - Manchester United summer signing Pellistri still building towards first team debut

James Westwood

'He is progressing nicely' - Manchester United summer signing Pellistri still building towards first team debut image

Manchester United summer signing Facundo Pellistri is still building towards his first-team debut, according to reserves head coach Neil Wood, who says "he is progressing nicely".

After following Pellistri's rise to prominence at Uruguayan club Penarol closely for a number of years, United made their move for the winger on deadline day.

The 18-year-old completed a £9 million ($12m) move to Old Trafford on October 5 but although the teenager was initially announced as a senior signing, he has spent his first three months in Manchester working with the U23s.

Pellistri has featured in four Premier League 2 games to date, with his latest outing coming in a 3-1 home win over Southampton on Friday.

The former Penarol star opened his scoring account for the Red Devils with a well taken late strike against the Saints, and will hope to force his way into Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's first team as the season progresses.

Wood admits the Uruguayan is still adjusting to his new surroundings at the moment, but he is certain that the talented attacker has the right mentality to succeed.

"He's still settling in," the United coach told Manchester Evening News. "He's been training with us this week and it has probably helped him being out on the pitch because he's got a better relationship with the players on the pitch and he understands their game more because he's training more with them.

"That can only help him. I thought he showed an improvement again [against Southampton] with his performance and he probably could have had another goal after he hit the crossbar. He said it bobbled up, next time he scores it.

"He is progressing nicely but I don't want to put too much pressure on him. He is working hard, trying to take in as much information as he can."

Red Devils reserve goalkeeper Paul Woolston also heaped praise upon Pellistri when asked why he neglected to join in the celebrations following the Uruguayan's first goal for the club.

"I was contemplating it, but thought it was a bit far too run!" said the 22-year-old. "He's deserved it. He has worked really hard. You can see when he gets the ball he is really positive which is brilliant to see.

"It is totally different for him than what he was used to, but he is doing really well. The goal today, he deserved it.

"You can see from his first game he has settled in a lot more. You can tell around us he feels good and it just shows in training when he comes down in games like that. He is working really hard and doing really well."

James Westwood