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Player profile of Manchester United target Pietro Pellegri

Manchester United have renewed their interest in former transfer target Pietro Pellegri despite the news of Odion Ighalo’s loan spell being extended till 2021, as per Football Italia.

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

Bengaluru, June 1: Manchester United have renewed their interest in former transfer target Pietro Pellegri despite the news of Odion Ighalo’s loan spell being extended till 2021, as per Football Italia.

Manchester United have been scouting Pellegri since he was a precocious 16-year-old talent at Serie A side Genoa. Mourinho tried to sign him and now Solskjaer too reportedly has shown interest in him.

Solskjaer already has several attacking options at the club with Marcus Rashford, Mason Greenwood, Anthony Martial and Odion Ighalo, who is currently on loan. However, it seems Solskjaer sees Pellegri as one for the future, who would fill in the void left by Ighalo once he returns to China

Plus Pellegri fits Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s transfer policy. While his injury record may fend off other clubs, it seems Solskjaer is ready to take a gamble on him.

The Italian forward is still something of an unknown quantity for most therefore here are a couple of things you need to know about the player:

Career so far

Pellegri started his career from the youth ranks of Serie A side before making a switch to Monaco. At the age of 15 years and 280 days, he made his debut in 2016. He tied the record as the youngest ever Serie A debutant, held by Roma's Amedeo Amadei since 1937. In doing so he also became the first player born in the 21st century to appear in Serie A.

His glowing performance caught several eyes. Even Jose Mourinho wanted to sign the teenager during his spell in charge of the 20-time English champions but a deal failed to materialise. The youngster signed for Monaco instead in 2018 January. He became one of the most expensive youngsters in the world after the £18m signing. However, despite being one of the brightest talents injuries have restricted the forward to just six appearances with only one goal to his name so far.

Player profile

During his time at Genoa, he usually played at the centre-forward role or the supporting striker role in 4-4-2 or 3-5-2 formation. He has the ability to hold the ball up well before making his runs and finding space to fire a shot towards goal.

Despite being just a teenager, he looks to be fairly well built and physically majestic. Standing 6ft 2in, he is strong in the air as well can make good runs in the channel. Moreover, he has shown in Italy that despite the raw age, he still posses a lot of maturities which helped him score goals against the giants like Roma or Lazio.

As for his time at Monaco, his appearances have been so short that the systems he's been used in there don't bear much importance. The only big thing concerning about his footballing aspect is his consistent string of injuries. It is his groin and his hamstring that have proven to be the real problem areas - which surely is a major concern. However, him pushing for senior football and physicality much early in his career could take a toll on his body as well. So if he can overcome these issues he might well end up being a world-class talent.

Transfer fee

Monaco have not shown yet that they are likely to offload the player. However, should such a situation arise, they could surely look to recoup most of the fees they paid two years back. The 19-year-old still has more than enough time to overcome his injury problems and be a top-level player. So naturally, Monaco would want to capitalise on it.

If United want to sign the player they may have to splash at least a fee around £25m. However, due to the coronavirus, the fee although may go down a bit. Still, it might be a risk for a club to splash the cash on an injury-prone striker. But if he can put his fitness issues behind him and get back to his best might well end up being a good investment

Story first published: Monday, June 1, 2020, 19:12 [IST]
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