Man Utd wonderkid yet to "convince" Ten Hag as "regret" warning sent by ex-flop

Facundo Pellistri looks to be the latest to progress from the famed Manchester United system but he still has yet to fully convince Red Devils' boss Erik ten Hag.

The 20-year-old joined the club back in October 2020 having caught the eye with Uruguayan outfit Penarol, and since then was sent out on a season-and-half loan spell with Spanish club Alaves, but failed to open his European goalscoring account. Already a seven-time international, big things were expected of Pellistri this season upon his return to Old Trafford, particularly after he scored against Liverpool in pre-season.

But things haven't quite panned out that way.

An injury picked up in pre-season has seen him restricted to the sidelines and he is yet to make his debut for United as a result. Having made his return in the Red Devils' EFL Trophy victory over Barrow earlier this month, he will certainly be hopeful of receiving more opportunities ahead of the World Cup.

In order to do that though, it appears that he has a lot more work to do to convince manager Ten Hag that he is ready for first-team action.

Speaking ahead of the club's Europa League showdown with Sheriff Tiraspol, the Dutchman said: "He [Pellistri] was injured, [for a] long period. [Against] Atletico Madrid, [he got a] bad injury. So he is now returning.

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"We have some young players in the background in offensive positions. Quite good competition there and they have to battle for it to convince us, to convince me to be in the team, and he is one of the options."

A number of players have certainly been in the position that Pellestri currently finds himself in. Italian forward Federico Macheda is among the most infamous names out of the Red Devils' academy. He enjoyed a dream debut at just 17 having scored a late winner against Aston Villa.

However, he soon faded into obscurity with just a further 35 appearances for the club before departing for Cardiff City. He has forged a journeyman career since then, having played in the lower reaches of Italian football, Greece and most recently Turkey.

Speaking about his career at Old Trafford, Macheda hinted that he had "regrets" over not continuing to put in the same effort after his dream debut - advice Pellistri will need to take on board.

"I have regrets about not keeping working hard as before I got into the first team," he said. "When I got to the first team, for me everything was amazing.

"But when you do well, your concentration drops. That doesn't allow you to keep working for something bigger, that was what was the missing thing for me - I didn't work for the next bigger thing at my time at Manchester United.

"If that is one regret I have it is this one because I should have done a lot more with the chances I had with the first team when I had ten minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes or starts because I had a lot of them. For an 18-year-old it is not normal.

"I knew I was very good physically, my character was confident but I had to keep going in terms of wanting more. I was enjoying this moment yes too much but I didn't think it was easy because, after those games [against Villa], I didn't have the chance to play every week."

Of course, the circumstances are slightly different for Pellistri in the fact he has yet to make his first appearance for United but it is clear that like Macheda, he still has plenty of work to do to ensure his spell at Old Trafford does not go the same way.

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