In January 2005, Pellè was loaned out to Catania in Serie B, being regularly used but failing to find the net. In the summer, he participated in the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship with the under-20 team, scoring four goals in an eventual quarter-final exit, and returned to Lecce for the 2005–06 campaign, only to be loaned again in the winter transfer window, again to the second division, now to Crotone.