Facundo Pellistri might have just changed Manchester United’s transfer plans

Weghorst’s role is obvious

For now Anthony Martial remains the only real option Erik ten Hag has at centre forward, which is why he was wrapped in cotton wool ahead of Saturday’s Manchester derby and given the night off.

With Marcus Rashford only on the bench it was Anthony Elanga who was given an extended run as a striker in the Manchester United side, but if Wout Weghorst was watching from Istanbul he would have been confident of getting plenty of minutes when he arrives at Old Trafford.

United are close to tying up a complicated loan move for the Netherlands striker and although his arrival may be a little underwhelming, he is quite clearly needed.

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Weghorst’s arrival might well signal a loan exit for Elanga, especially if Jadon Sancho is soon returned to the squad, and it feels like he needs an extended run of first-team football.

He’s certainly not the answer at centre-forward. In his 60 minutes in that role he managed just 11 touches and when he tapped home Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s cross early in the second half, the flag was quickly up.

Elanga was a long way offside in truth and it showed that lack of nous and movement that is required when playing that role, but it’s difficult to blame him for that, given he was forced to fill in due to the lack of options.

Weghorst, 30, is much more experienced and has been playing well for Besiktas this season. His game-changing cameo in the World Cup quarter-final is still fresh in the memory as well.

If he’s registered by Friday lunchtime he can be in the squad to face Manchester City and although Martial is likely to remain the starter, at least this provide more experience and competition for that spot. On the evidence of the win against Charlton, it is badly needed.

Pellistri’s point proven

You could say this was an overdue debut for Facundo Pellistri, arriving two years, three months and five days after he signed for United as one of the brightest attacking talents in South America.

The Uruguayan has had a difficult loan spell at Alaves in that but has been bright enough to force his way into his international squad and looked bright at the World Cup as well.

With United short of winger it’s been a surprise it’s taken him so long to earn a chance and his opportunity against Charlton only consisted of 10 minutes, but he made an impact.

There was one driving dribble to create a chance for Scott McTominay and then another to tee up Rashford for the goal that finally put the tie to bed. The game had opened up by then, but Pellistri did more in his brief opportunity than Elanga did in 80.

Pellistri turned 21 just after the World Cup and is clearly at a point in his career where he needs some direction and some regular game time. His agent said before the World Cup that he could leave United in January, but on this evidence the £9million winger is worth keeping in the squad, especially if Elanga does depart on loan.

Antony’s hot streak

It might be a tad unfair to suggest the jury is still out on Antony, but any doubts around the United winger are inflated by his £85.5million price tag.

The Brazilian winger is still relatively raw at this level, having had just two seasons in European football with Ajax, and he is making an impact in his first campaign with United. After his wonderful curling effort against Charlton, he now has five goals in 16 games from the left wing, which is not a bad return at all.

It’s fair to say that the 22-year-old is mostly producing moments rather than consistently influencing games at the moment, but they’re often wonderful moments.

After scoring three goals in his first six games for the club, he went eight without scoring, but has now netted in back-to-back Old Trafford cup games. The finish against Everton on Friday night was routine but his other four goals have been very eye-catching.

The goals against Manchester City and Charlton have been excellent strikes from distance and the finishes against Arsenal and Everton in the Premier League were very well taken. He’s still settling into the Premier League, but even the manner of Antony’s goals suggests an impactful and dangerous winger waiting to emerge.

If there’s one area that clearly needs to be worked on it is the right foot. It’s for standing on only at the moment and can make his movements a little predictable, although when he finishes as he did on Tuesday night that becomes less of a problem.

Derby auditions

The identity of the three likely starters from this United XI in Saturday’s derby was fairly obvious, given Diogo Dalot, Lisandro Martinez and Antony have all been short of action recently.

Martinez hadn’t started a game for a month and needed the run out before going up against Erling Haaland this weekend. Antony didn’t feature an awful lot for Brazil in the World Cup and Dalot only returned from an injury picked up in Qatar against Everton on Friday.

The plan of getting all three up to speed to face City backfired when Dalot picked up a first-half injury, however. Wan-Bissaka, given the runaround twice by Pep Guardiola’s side last season, now looks the most likely right-back this weekend.

That isn’t as concerning as it would have been before the World Cup. The £45million full-back has looked like an adequate stand-in for Dalot recently, but if he does play on Saturday it will be an altogether tougher test.

If Martinez and Antony secured their places in Saturday’s team, then none of the fellow starters really pressed their case. Alejandro Garnacho was eye-catching and Harry Maguire secure, but neither were in the category of undroppable and the other fringe players just didn’t do enough in a rusty performance.

Academy debuts

It is 20 years this year since Tom Heaton won the FA Youth Cup as a United academy goalkeeper. That success came three years before Kobbie Mainoo was born but they were united last night in making their first starts for the club.

It could be a quiz question for years to come. The time United fielded a team that contained two academy players making their first starts for the club, one aged 17 and one aged 36.

Mainoo was one of the stars of last season’s Youth Cup winning side and the local lad is tipped for a big career as a central midfielder. Heaton’s career has come full circle since leaving Old Trafford in search of regular football in 2010.

He would almost certainly have started against Aston Villa in the third round of this competition but for an unfortunately timed injury. But with Martin Dubravka returning to Newcastle this month he has finally earned the start that he has deserved.

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