Manchester United are apparently eyeing a move for Italian teenager Pietro Pellegri, according to reports. It has been reported by Football Italia that the 19-year-old could be set to join Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, and Mason Greenwood in the forward line at the Old Trafford club, which would see Ole Gunnar Solskjaer rejuvenate the squad.
At the age of 16, Pellegri was signed by principality club AS Monaco for an £18 million (€25 million) fee with the player arriving from Genoa where at the time he had scored three goals in 10 appearances at senior level for the club. However, since then, the player has made just six appearances for Monaco, scoring one goal.
A series of injuries this season saw him not play a single minute of football for Monaco, seemingly suffering a hamstring injury, which raged on throughout much of the season, and when the plug was pulled on the Ligue 1 season, despite not being fit, it meant his season was over. It would seem his time at Monaco has not been great.
It has been stated that Solskjaer feels that Pellegri could help bring the old times back to the Old Trafford club, with the club seeking to find a new striker, which left them short up front this season and needing to make a loan signing in the form of Odion Ighalo from Chinese club, Shanghai Shenhua, which ends this weekend.
Pellegri idolised Zlatan Ibrahimovic, which is a good player to model yourself on, considering the form he had at United, scoring 29 goals and 10 assists in 53 appearances for the club before leaving for LA Galaxy in the MLS, scoring 53 goals and 15 assists in 58 appearances. He’s now playing for former club, AC Milan.
The 19-year-old would be considered a risk but with the form of Rashford (19 goals and six assists), Martial (16 goals and five assists) and even Greenwood (14 goals and four assists), he could be given the time to find his feet at the club, if United’s interest in solid. However, the club has been linked to Manny names already it is hard to tell.
United are still linked to Borussia Dortmund winger Jadon Sancho, who is reportedly the clubs number one target, Aston Villa attacking midfielder Jack Grealish, and even Birmingham City midfielder Jude Bellingham, who might yet opt to sign for Dortmund. United need to secure two attacking players; a striker and a right-winger.
With the Premier League due to resume in two week’s time, Solskjaer will be concentrating on getting his squad up to fitness after not playing a match since mid-March when the league and the rest of world football was suspended. Since then, the Bundesliga has returned, entering it’s third weekend of action with La Liga and Serie A yet to resume.
Pellegri could be an under the radar signing and could play more U23 level football, than first team level football at the start of his United career, if indeed these reports are true. However, with Joe Hugill‘s impending arrival, that might not be something that happens. I guess we will just have to wait and see what happens this summer.
