Alejandro Garnacho is enjoying a breakthrough season at Manchester United under Erik ten Hag.
After making his debut for the club last term, the winger has amassed 15 appearances this campaign, scoring twice.
Last Saturday, Garnacho became the youngest player to provide a Premier League assist in a Manchester derby when he set up Marcus Rashford’s winner aged 18 years and 197 days.
Ahead of United’s trip to Crystal Palace tonight, we turn the spotlight on the talented youngster and take a look at what the future might hold for Garnacho.
Star on the rise
Garnacho has been in demand from an early age. Starting his youth career at Getafe, he was poached by Atletico Madrid in 2015, when he was just 11 years old.
Five years later, United paid £420,000 to bring the Madrid native to England, despite the fact that he was not a regular in Atleti’s youth setup.
In his second season at the club, Garnacho won the Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year award and scored twice in a 3-1 win over Nottingham Forest in the FA Youth Cup final.
Even before he had received that prestigious Under-18s accolade — following in the footsteps of the likes of Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Marcus Rashford — the starlet had made his first-team debut against Chelsea in April 2022.
Hard work pays off
&w=707&quality=100)
Ten Hag’s arrival last May has certainly accelerated Garnacho’s development.
However, the Dutch boss was not immediately impressed with the Argentina U-20s international.
After giving Garnacho his full debut against FC Sheriff last October, Ten Hag said: “I was not happy with him.
“The last weeks I was happy with him, a better attitude, more resilience.”
Such comments can often have much to do with a manager trying to keep a youngster from becoming complacent, but they were later echoed by a senior player.
After Garnacho scored the winning goal in United’s 1-0 Europa League success at Real Sociedad, playmaker Bruno Fernandes gave his thoughts on the tricky forward’s development.
Fernandes said: “At the beginning of the season, he was not at his best.
“In the tour, he didn’t have the best attitude that he should’ve had. He’s getting his chances because he’s training better, he’s having a different attitude and he’s deserving his chances.”
At the races in derby win
It is a positive for any club to have both a manager and leaders in the changing room demanding the highest standards are met by young players that are entering the first-team squad.
When that club is United, thoughts immediately turn to their most successful manager Alex Ferguson, who was always ready to give the next generation an opportunity but had high expectations.
Getting the balance right between tough love and positivity is a challenge for any manager. Though Ten Hag has clearly tried to keep Garnacho’s feet on the ground, he was quick to give praise after the 2-1 win against fierce local rivals City.
Ten Hag said: “He has a skill that I don’t see many players in the Premier League having — he beats players one on one.
“He’s learnt in the last months about how to play in a team, how to live, how to do the right things in the week, how to have the right attitude on the training ground and you see how he’s acting as a team player and with his individual skills that can make the difference.”
&w=707&quality=100)
Key cameo role
The future looks bright for Garnacho at Old Trafford, but with Marcus Rashford generally playing in his favoured left-wing position, he may have to be content with cameo appearances and starts in cup competitions for now.
With the highly-skilled talent still being so young, there is plenty of time for him to grow into a regular starter in a United squad where competition for places is growing.
Already, he seems to have leapfrogged older players such as Anthony Elanga and Facundo Pellistri in the pecking order, with a fresh challenge coming in the form of the returning Jadon Sancho.
The Red Devils are now on the fringes of the title race and look assured of Champions League football next season, which will enable them to further improve their options in attack.
The good news for Garnacho is that his many attributes mean Ten Hag will continue to give him opportunities from the bench against tiring defences.
Right now, he is making the most of those chances.