Manchester United will not allow Alejandro Garnacho to participate in the Under-20 World Cup for Argentina next month.
There had been suggestions in Argentina, where the tournament starts on May 20, that Garnacho would be included in coach Javier Mascherano's squad and miss United's run-in.
United play at Bournemouth on the day of the first game of the U20 finals before ending their Premier League season with the visits of Chelsea and Fulham. United also take on Manchester City in the FA Cup final on June 3.
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Garnacho, who played in the Toulon tournament for Argentina's U20s last June, could return from a seven-week lay-off with an ankle injury next week and United manager Erik ten Hag clarified he will see out the season with the club.
"No, we don’t release him," Ten Hag clarified. "He will return tomorrow in team training, partially. Then we will have to see when he can return totally in the training, and back into games."
Garnacho was named in the Argentina senior squad for their March internationals against Panama and Curacao but had to withdraw through an injury he sustained in the goalless draw with Southampton on March 19.
The 18-year-old has scored four times for United this season and provided five assists, the majority as an impact sub.
United host Aston Villa on Sunday with Unai Emery's team only six points behind them in the Premier League table, having played two games more.
Villa are unbeaten in their last four league games against United and inflicted a 3-1 defeat on Ten Hag's side in Emery's first match in charge in November.
United failed to consolidate their top-four status in a 2-2 draw with Tottenham, having led 2-0 at half-time. Villa have won eight and drawn two of their last 10 games. United have had an inconsistent month, drawing twice from winning positions against Spurs and Sevilla whilst losing away to Sevilla and Newcastle.
Ten Hag suggested the 2-0 defeat of Nottingham Forest a fortnight ago was an example of United nearing their optimum over the course of 90 minutes. "The game was almost optimum and you see it is not so easy to play Forest. You see Liverpool struggling, you see Brighton struggling there, that was a very good performance.
"And we had more games, but I have to think which ones. City was a brilliant game, both sides, and we had more. I think also Arsenal, Wolves, we played well. We had many games where we were very dominant.
"I like to play for instance Betis at home, Barcelona. So we had our games where we played very good football."
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