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.

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 the World Cup, Pellistri should do something similar."

Despite not recording an appearance for United's senior side prior to the international break, Pellistri was still called up to the Uruguay side in September - with the 20-year-old playing 45 minutes in the 1-0 defeat to Iran. He remained among the substitutes for the 2-0 victory over Canada, but his selection alone shows how highly he is thought of by his country.

The attacker, who was named on the United bench for the first time in the 6-3 derby defeat to Manchester City at the weekend, has since delivered a strong performance for the Reds in the EFL trophy, with the Uruguayan impressing in the victory over Barrow. Following their comfortable victory over Carlisle in this season's opener, United made it two wins from two as Charlie McNeill and Alejandro Garnacho settled the scores.

While Pellistri has been told that he should think about leaving Old Trafford, he has instead insisted that he is 'eager' to play a role for the club this season under manager Ten Hag. Given that the Reds have a number of matches to come in October - followed by an EFL Cup tie against Aston Villa in November - the youngster has a serious chance of registering some minutes in the coming weeks.

The 20-year-old - who arrived at the club in 2020 from Penarol - claimed that he was excited about being involved with the first-team and vowed to be ready to play whenever required.

"Now in Manchester will have an important string of games, so I also hope to get minutes at the club," Pellistri said to ESPN Argentina.

"Erik ten Hag is a good coach, with a very clear idea; I really want to start participating in the team."

Even though Pellistri has been warned that he needs to be playing regularly in order to cement his World Cup spot, his desire to earn a spot in the United team shows that he is invested in the project Ten Hag has started at Old Trafford. Should he continue to impress in training, he is bound to feature for the Reds, sooner rather than later.