Great transfer of Panathinaikos, who acquired to Facundo Pellistri
Pellistri, continue his career in the Super League by signing a 4-year contract. The uruguayan talent will reportedly have an annual salary of 1.5 million euros.
Panathinaikos of Yiannis Alafouzos set off a big bomb. Acquired Manchester United's Uruguayan international winger Facundo Pellistri (21/8) who was hotly wanted by the club's new manager, Diego Alonso. For several days the greens had opened a secret channel with the English team and the 22-year-old footballer and finally the solution was found. After talking with Panathinaikos coach Diego Alonso whom he knew from the Uruguay national team (he was their coach), Pellistri understood that the Greek team has high ambitions. So he agreed to continue his career in the Super League by signing a 4-year contract. Pellistri will reportedly have an annual salary of 1.5 million euros (1.2 million euros were his wages at United).
The English team was asking 12 to 15 million euros 20 days ago. However, Panathinaikos managed to close the deal for an amount of 6 million euros, while there are some goal achievement bonuses that have not yet been specified. United will sell 55% of the rights to the talented footballer, while they can proceed to buy him back until 2027, without mentioning an amount.
Pellistri was born on December 20, 2001 in Montevideo, Uruguay. He grew up in a wealthy family (his father, Marcelo, was an accountant and his mother, Lucia, was a pediatrician). The young winger also has a Spanish passport, as his grandmother (on his father's side) hails from A Coruña (a city and municipality in Galicia, northwestern Spain and the capital of the province of La Coruña).
His parents supported him from his first steps in the field of football, but at the same time they wanted him to be a good student in school.
He started his football journey at the Peñarol Academy (at the age of 11). At the age of 17, he played for the first time in the "greats" of Peñarol and before he turned 18 he was already a key player and irreplaceable. He is an active member of the Uruguayan national team, counting 26 appearances and 2 goals. In the recent Copa América, he was the main choice of the national coach Marcelo Bielsa in the path made by the Celeste to the semi-finals of the competition.
In October 2020, Manchester United, having won the... race with the rest of the top clubs, made the next big thing of Uruguayan football theirs, spending 8.5 million euros. He initially joined the "Red Devils" in the K21 and then in January 2021 he was loaned to Spanish Alaves to play games. He stayed in the Primera Division team for 1.5 years, gaining important experiences. Thanks to them, he was called to the Uruguayan national team by the current coach of Panathinaikos, Diego Alonso, participated in the qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup and finally got a starting jersey in the final phase that took place in Qatar!.
He returned to United in the summer of 2022, and from January 2023 he is used in the first team. Thanks to his work, perseverance and of course his talent, he managed to win more appearances in the 2023-24 season, also competing in the UEFA Champions League groups. He also played on loan at Alaves (35 games), where he fought hard to stay in La Liga, while last year he spent the second part of the season at Granada (15 appearances, two goals, two assists).
This year the young Uruguayan (1.75 height) played in the Community Shield final against Manchester City. As Manchester United manager, Erik Ten Hag brought him on as a substitute in the 59th minute.
The 3rd most expensive of the greens
The inclusion of Pellistri in Panathinaikos is the 3rd most expensive in the history of the greens. They were preceded by Michalis Konstantinou (15 million euros) and Djibril Cisse with 8 million euros, followed by Facundo Pelistri with 6 million euros.
Now, of course, it is up to the young striker who is called upon to prove his worth on the pitch and to justify the money paid by the greens, as well as what he will receive annually...
Manos Staramopoulos
Journalist and Analyst of International Football and Affairs
Chief Editor English Zone of Discoveryfootball.com
Athens (Greece)
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