Diego Forlan: Facundo Pellestri plays like my ex-Man Utd teammate

October 16, 2020
Posted by Steven Tan | Source from Tribal Football
Penarol coach and former Manchester United striker Diego Forlan has likened Facundo Pellestri to former teammate Ryan Giggs.
 
The 18-year-old was signed on deadline day for a fee of £9m from Penarol.
 
"He asked me lots of questions about Facundo and I gave him lots of answers," Forlan told the South China Post.
 
"There was a lot of interest in the player and I could understand why. He's very quick and goes past players easily. He was doing that even when it was not a good moment for the team.
 
"He likes receiving the ball in midfield and moving forward with it. Even though he was young, I put him in my team every week. He can play on the right but also the left. He's two-footed like I was and he tries to dribble like Ryan Giggs."
 
Forlan clearly thinks Pellistri has a big future at Old Trafford, but has urged fans to demonstrate patience with the youngster.
 
"I told Ole he has a lot of potential, but he has to keep developing," he continued.
 
"I told Facundo many times: 'There are not players like you in Uruguay, but if you go to Europe, which attracts the best in the world, there will be many others who are very fast – and stronger than you too. You have potential but it depends on you to improve.'
 
"Facundo is shy. He works hard, he trains hard, he's professional. He speaks English and he went to a good private school. He has many attributes and I explained these to Ole.
 
"But fans have to be patient because he's 18 years old and has much hard work ahead of him. He's at the start of his career.
 
"He needs to understand that he has done nothing yet and that he's not a star. He's arriving at a big club and he's done well to get to that point, but I've been there. It's hard. You need dedication, lots of hard work and some luck too.
 
"I told Facundo that Manchester is a good place because they don't hurry players. They don't rush; they will wait for him to improve. It's a good city to be a professional too, a football city where the fans are respectful and supportive."
  • Related keywords: Diego Forlan, Ryan Giggs, Facundo Pellestri, Manchester United