Just three years ago, in May 2022, Alejandro Garnacho announced himself on the big stage when putting in a fantastic performance for Manchester United in our victorious FA Youth Cup final against Nottingham Forest. In front of a record breaking attendance of 67,492 fans at Old Trafford, the 17-year-old scored from the spot as well as sealing the 3-1 victory with another goal in injury time.
We’d endured a rotten few months under Ralf Rangnick so there was genuine joy in the stands watching our youth team lift a cup, with Garnacho giving us some hope for the future.
“That boy could be in any stadium in the world and he wouldn’t care,” United’s U18 coach Travis Binnion beamed afterwards. “That’s his make-up. A few of them are like that and that’s why they are going to have good careers.”
If someone had said then that two years later he would be scoring the opening goal against Manchester City in our FA Cup final victory, you probably could have believed it. Here was a youngster with so much confidence in his own ability, who played with a fearlessness we had craved, so we had hopes of him reaching great heights.
That day at Wembley in 2024 was a reward for the dire football we had been forced to watch over the past few seasons. There were whispers in the press on the morning of the final that Erik ten Hag was about to be sacked after finishing 8th in the league. It was hard to see past anything but a repeat of the previous year’s cup final when City strolled to victory against us.
But with less than half an hour played, and United more than holding their own, Diogo Dalot booted the ball up the pitch in the direction of Garnacho. Josko Gvardiol towered over the teenager, but Garnacho put him under pressure, forcing the defender’s error which set up the opening goal. It was just a simple tap in for Garnacho in the end, the reward for not giving up, and he raced to the City end, staring at them, then kissing the badge.
But just over a year on from that moment, Garnacho is forcing his way out of the club, after starting the Europa League final on the bench. Speaking to the press after the game, he didn’t hold back.
“Obviously it’s hard for everyone,” he said. “This season has been shit. We lost the final, we didn’t beat anyone in the league. It’s very difficult. Up until the final I played every round helping the team, and today I play 20 minutes, I don’t know. The final will influence [my decision] but the whole season, the situation of the club. I’m going to try to enjoy the summer and see what happens afterwards.”
After almost leaving for Chelsea in the January window, it’s no surprise that they are the team in for him this summer too. Reports suggest Garnacho turned down an offer from Bayern Munich as Chelsea are the only team he’s interested in playing for.
“He’s a really talented boy,” Amorim said at the beginning of the month. “I think it’s clear that Garnacho wants a different thing with a different leadership.”
The issue is, Chelsea are apparently only willing to offer £25m for the player that United rate as being worth £50m. While we are under some pressure, as nobody wants to keep a player who doesn’t want to be there, we still are in a good position. Garnacho is under contract until 2028 so we are under no pressure to sell. As an academy graduate, we don’t have any wasted value in him with a need to offload, like with Jadon Sancho and Antony. For the player, it’s a World Cup year, so the clock is ticking for him.
Like with Marcus Rashford, it’s a really sad ending to the United career of a player who had made his way from the Academy and shown such great promise. Wearing the Aston Villa shirt with Rashford’s name and number on the back was such a childish response to his situation, making public what could be resolved behind the scenes.
For some reason, it always ends badly for Argentineans at United, and it’s upsetting to think of the stick our fans will give him when he’s potentially going to be running around the Old Trafford pitch in a Chelsea shirt in a few weeks’ time. But it’s clear his relationship with Amorim has broken down and he won’t be playing for United again.
The Ronaldo fanboy, who lived his dream of playing alongside his idol at United, but now seems to believe he has outgrown us. Off you pop then, Garnacho lad.