Manchester United are at risk of angering Alejandro Garnacho, with reports suggesting the club will block their starlet from joining up with Argentina's under-20 squad.
Garnacho won his first senior international call-up earlier in 2022, but has yet to make his senior bow for the Albiceleste. The 18-year-old remains eligible for the under-20s, and had been expected to join up with Javier Mascherano's squad for the upcoming South American championship.
The forward, who has four goals in five appearances at age group level, is one of five players yet to be released by their clubs. With Garnacho taking a more important role with United this term, they face a potential club-vs-country row if they keep him in England.
According to TyC Sports (via the Express ), the others yet to be released by their clubs are Matias Soule, Franco Carboni, Valentin Carboni and Luka Romero. Romero and Soule have featured on multiple occasions in Serie A this season, for Lazio and Juventus respectively, while the Carboni brothers are on Inter Milan's books.
Garnacho made his under-20 debut in March, having earlier joined Lionel Scaloni's senior squad ahead of a pair of World Cup qualifiers. The teenager didn't make it onto the pitch for the seniors, and fell short of a spot in the World Cup winning squad, but scored four times in as many games for the under-20s in June.
Argentina have been drawn with Colombia, Brazil, Paraguay and Peru in their Sudamericano group. They finished as runners-up in the 2019 edition, with Julian Alvarez and Thiago Almada among the members of that squad to go on and feature in Qatar.
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Garnacho was handed his senior Manchester United debut by Ralf Rangnick last season, and has featured even more since Erik ten Hag's arrival. He scored his first senior goal in a Europa League win against Real Sociedad in November before opening his Premier League account later that month as United won at Fulham.
"It shows that he has the talent, a great talent but he has a long way to go," Ten Hag said after Garnacho's late winner at Fulham. "He has to make a big investment because it will be recognisable every time he plays.
"First, he shows the mentality you need. Under stress he's performing, he's coming in, he has an impact, he has the belief. Twice in three, four days, so that is really good.
"I'm really happy that we can bring a young player up and it shows that when players deserve it they get their chances. That is the first one but we have to bring more. He's great. I like that he has a big belief and that's great to work with. He likes football. He's a real pleasure."
