Manchester United are not in a good place right now, to put it kindly, and much of that is down to the mishmash of players bought under multiple managers.
More than the incoming transfers, it has been Man Utd’s inability to sell well that has put them in their current predicament.
Ineos made £100 million from sales last summer, far and away one of the most lucrative summers for United, an indictment on their ability to sell well.
The only thing worse than that is a trend that has been emerging, where players United sell at their lowest somehow become world-beaters again after leaving. One player has broken that trend.
Man Utd’s concerning trend broken by Facundo Pellistri
Antony is the latest player who’s rediscovered his form after leaving United, pulling up trees in Spain with Real Betis, scoring and assisting for fun.
Marcus Rashford has started well at Aston Villa, and from the summer, Scott McTominay is powering Napoli to a potential Serie A title.
Last summer, three players went to Greece as well among whom Anthony Martial is tearing it up with AEK Athens, while Shola Shoretire has shown fleeting signs of promise.
The player who’s broken that trend of pretty much every United man playing well after leaving the club is Facundo Pellistri, arguably the player best placed to succeed.
Pellistri joined Panathinaikos in the summer to work under the tutelage of fellow Uruguayan Diego Alonso, a strong believer in his abilities.
The winger received regular football under Alonso but his form mirrored that of the team, with Alonso not getting them to fire.
Alonso was promptly replaced by Rui Vitoria and Pellistri seems to have fallen out of favour while the Portuguese manager is thriving, winning a remarkable 14 out of his 20 games so far, losing just two.
Pellistri’s underperformance also hurts Man Utd
While it is somewhat validating to see that Man Utd is not the problem in every player’s career, Pellistri’s underperformance hurts United too.
That is because they hold a 45% sell-on clause along with a buy-back option for three years, a prospect that looks as unlikely as United’s Premier League title charge this season.
He’s made 29 appearances across all competitions for four goals and four assists but the minutes have started dwindling under Vitoria and a recent hamstring injury makes his situation even more difficult.
At 23, it seems like Ineos timed the decision to sell him perfectly because he’s quickly going out of the age range where they can sell teams on his potential.
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