Manchester United’s Alejandro Garnacho has made a mistake. In fact, he’s made a series of horrible errors that will culminate in him leaving Old Trafford. It didn’t need to be this way.
The Argentine finds himself on the transfer list after a fallout with head coach Ruben Amorim, who has grown increasingly frustrated by the player’s immature antics.
From his brother’s social media outburst following the Europa League final to Garnacho picturing himself wearing a Marcus Rashford Aston Villa shirt on Instagram, the 21-year-old has made it public that he is a toxic influence at Old Trafford.
But despite the problems that Garnacho has brought to Old Trafford, when he finally leaves the club, there should be a sense of frustration over what he might have brought to Man Utd.
He is, after all, an elite-level performer. The raw statistics from the 2024/25 Premier League season put him as the second-best attacking midfielder in the whole league. According to analytics company SciSports, he outperformed team-mate Bruno Fernandes, Chelsea star Cole Palmer and €64 million Tottenham Hotspur signing Mohammed Kudus.
Garnacho, meanwhile, is in a different league entirely to Joshua Zirkzee, who was rated as the worst attacking midfielder in England’s top-flight last term.
Garnacho vs Premier League attacking midfielders: Overall performance (2024/25)
Garnacho narrows down his options
According to Sky Sports News, Garnacho wants to stay in the Premier League next season and has, therefore, narrowed his options down to six elite clubs: Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea, Manchester City, Newcastle United and Arsenal.
Rumours have suggested that Chelsea, Newcastle and, much more tentatively, Arsenal might be interested.
None of these options look particularly strong for the player based on SciSports’ Career Advice tool, which rates moves based around a series of key factors from development and playing time to style and formation.
Arsenal receive the highest Club Fit score of 72, but Garnacho is forecast to be severely limited in his playing time at the Emirates Stadium. Additionally, the style employed by Mikel Arteta’s side is not thought to be one he would enjoy.
Chelsea, who have had the greatest interest in the player, score worst of this trio of clubs with just a 58. Moving to Stamford Bridge simply to remain at a big Premier League club looks a grave mistake.
Indeed, Manchester United looks the most obvious home for Garnacho, with Amorim’s side scoring 76. He’s burned his bridges at Old Trafford, though, depriving himself of the best opportunity to maximise his potential while denying the Red Devils the opportunity to enjoy the type of mercurial talent they are so crying out for.
This is a situation that has no winners, only losers.
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