After signing Leny Yoro and Joshua Zirkzee, Manchester United’s transfer business was contingent on sales, which they managed to do and bring Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui as well.
Now, to bring in another player, potentially a defensive midfielder, they need more sales and United had a recruitment meeting recently to assess the situation.
Victor Lindelof’s future was discussed in the meeting, but they might just have been provided a lifeline in the market with Bologna returning for Facundo Pellistri if recent reports are to be believed.
Facundo Pellistri transfer scene
It’s an open secret that Facundo Pellistri is on borrowed time at Man United despite starring in Copa America for Uruguay.
There has been interest in his services throughout this transfer window but nothing concrete has transpired so far.
Bologna have had a long-standing interest in the player as they were trying to secure a loan move for him last summer which fell through.
Now, Italian outlet Gazzetta dello Sport reports that they are back in for the player and could look to do a loan deal with obligation to buy.
This summer, they’ve already conducted business with United when they sold Joshua Zirkzee, so the working relationship between the two clubs can be assumed to be fairly positive.
Pellistri is out of favour at Old Trafford, pushed further to the fringes after Jadon Sancho’s return to the team and Amad’s breakthrough.
He spent the second half of last season on loan at Granada, where he made 15 appearances and scored two goals.
Lifeline for Man United’s finances
The Uruguayan’s contract expires next year but United retain the option to extend it by another year, which they are expected to exercise if they agree a deal for him.
His current standing at United was laid bare when he was deployed in an unfamiliar right-back position vs Man City in the Community Shield final.
Needless to say, he had a torrid time of things in a scenario where he was effectively a lamb for slaughter sent by Erik ten Hag.
He played just 364 minutes of football last season as well which will only shrink further this season.
He joined in 2020 for about £9 million on a five-year contract so his book value is likely to be less than £2 million at this point due to amortisation.
Therefore, just like United skillfully earned a profit from Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s transfer, any fee for Pellistri above £2 million will be a profit on the books and a lifeline for United’s finances at a time when they want to buy more players but are restricted by their financial reality.
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