Uruguayan outlet Referí features today an amazing story detailing how Facundo Pellistri’s ended up signing for Manchester United, despite being close on going elsewhere.
They start by recalling that the player nearly moved to Lyon, as the Montevideo side accepted an offer from the Ligue 1 club.
The amount was of €5m up front plus €2m in bonuses, with Peñarol also keeping 40% of a future transfer. That was basically the price set in his US$10m release clause, so they gave the approval, with the condition of keeping the player until January.
Lyon didn’t accept that, and after a vote, the Uruguayan side decided to block the sale. That ended up being a huge blow for Pellistri and his family.
Referí reports that his parents and agents called the club to show their discontent. That’s when Pellistri asked the coach to leave the team and go spend some time with his family.
“Mario, this is a very hard blow… I wanted to ask you if you allow me to go out. I haven’t seen my parents for a month and I want to stay with them them right now”, said the player, quoted by Referí.
Evarísto Gonzalez, who took charge of the talks, explained to Referí how things went.
“In the talks with Manchester, at one point they told me: ‘due to the club’s policy we don’t pay for release clauses so we send the money to the club directly and you fix that problem”.
Peñarol vice-president Rodolfo Cantino also talked about the payment method: “Everything was agreed, even the form of payment. There are two payments, one now and the other in July 2021, which we accept because Manchester are a front-line club”.
The official confirms that Peñarol asked to keep the player until January, but the Red Devils didn’t accept that.
“Of course we asked for it, we tried in every way but they argued that they wanted the player now. It’s normal, when an European club buy a player, they travel immediately.”
Also speaking to Referí, Peñarol secretary Evaristo Gonzalez claims that Pellistri is joining Manchester United’s first team: “Pellistri goes straight to the first team. Going to play. In the negotiation they asked me if I could guarantee them if he was in the bubble because they need him. Then it will be a matter of the manager if he uses him”.
