Manchester United starlet Alejandro Garnacho has been described as a "rascal" by one of the men who coached him at first club Atletico Madrid.
Madrid-born Garnacho began his career at his hometown club before moving to Old Trafford in 2020 at the age of 16. The winger, who played for Spain's under-18s but is now closing in on a senior debut for Argentina, made his United debut under Ralf Rangnick last season and scored his first goal for the club this term under Erik ten Hag.
While the youngster's talent has been plain to see, his all-round behaviour is said to have caused issues at Atleti. That's according to Jesus Adolfo Marcos, a coach with the Spanish club who was put in charge of Garnacho's group after a spell in charge of the under-19s.
“Alejandro was a ‘street boy,’ from a suburb of Getafe, and straight away we decided to move him to the academy hotel, because he was not a good student," Marcos, who still works in Atleti's youth set-up, told The Sun. “He was smarter than the rest of the boys, but became problematic... he was a rascal and creating war inside the hotel.
“He’d sneak food into the room, sweets and stuff, and would hide his phone and be on it late at night. He was also top of his group at breaking the rules!
Marcos described Garnacho as his "biggest challenge" and recalled a game where he felt forced to substitute the youngster after just 10 minutes. However, he revealed the tough love approach appeared to help.
“Alejandro reacted with an incredible maturity, didn’t complain and worked very hard all week," he said. “He is an intelligent boy who knew he was in the wrong and didn’t have any grounds to kick up a fuss. He has that thing special players have — they can be a rebel.”
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Garnacho has become an increasingly important player for United since scoring his first goal for the club in November against Real Sociedad. Further efforts have followed against Fulham, Leeds and West Ham, while he also provided Premier League assists in wins against Bournemouth and Manchester City.
"It's a great skill when you're fearless, when you're brave," Ten Hag said after the youngster's crucial late goal in United's FA Cup fifth round win over West Ham. "He's one of the players that I think has a skill that is so specific. There are not many players in world football you take players on, who are capable of just going at players and out-dribbling them.
"But he has more skill than that, for example, finishing. He also has a big engine. He's fast, he has speed and he can keep running for 90 minutes or 120 minutes."
