Paul Scholes says Alejandro Garnacho reminded him of a “young Cristiano Ronaldo” in Manchester United’s 3-0 over FC Sheriff Tiraspol in the Europa League on Thursday.
The 18-year-old was handed his full senior debut by Erik ten Hag in front of a packed Old Trafford who gave him rapturous applause when he was substituted in the second-half. The attacker produced some stylish pieces of play, worrying the backline, frequently causing defenders to back-track.
Garnacho’s energetic performance was also acknowledged by idol Cristiano Ronaldo, who gave him a warm embrace and words of encouragement at full-time. The teenager has been part of Ten Hag’s senior training squad this season and showed everyone why against Sheriff.
READ MORE: Player ratings vs FC Sheriff
Scholes was clearly impressed, telling BT Sport that Garnacho has “a big future”. He said: “This crowd loves entertainment and he provided that tonight.
“He almost reminded me of a young Cristiano with his skill and taking the ball down with confidence. I was impressed with the way he could attack on both feet and the unpredictability.
“He is an 18-year-old kid and he has a big future at Manchester United.” Former United team-mate Owen Hargreaves agreed, calling Garnacho “exceptional”.
He added: “The thing I liked about this performance was that he was direct, showed nice pieces of skill and tricks that had a little bit of function, he was just missing a goal or an assist. He was the most effective of all the front players, and I really enjoyed watching him.”
Garnacho, who lifted the FA Youth Cup at Old Trafford in May after scoring two goals in the final, had featured five times for the first-team before Thursday’s clash, all of them as a substitute.
His run out against FC Sheriff was his longest in a Reds shirt playing 79 minutes before being replaced by Donny van de Beek, who returned from injury to play his fourth game of the season.
READ NEXT:
