Manchester United have a number of promising players coming through their academy, but no player has got the fans more excited than young Argentinian winger Alejandro Garnacho right now. The 17-year-old made his debut for the first team this season against Chelsea coming on as a substitute late in the second half.
Many fans are expecting that Garnacho's star at United will continue to rise under Erik ten Hag, but in recent weeks Italian clubs have begun to circle and enquire about the winger's availability. Juventus are chief among them, according to reports from Europe, and many fans will be getting unwanted flashbacks to the Paul Pogba situation when midfielder first left the club in 2012.
Luckily Garnacho has a contract with United until 2025, but to make sure that the winger is not swayed into moving away from Old Trafford the Manchester Evening News understands that the club are making progress towards a new deal for the player. However, there is still work to be done to make sure that United get the best out of him.
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When Pogba left the club in 2012, it was partly due to a lack of playing time. As he was set to break into the first team, Paul Scholes announced he was coming out of retirement and he ate up the young midfielder's minutes in the first team.
Pogba saw this as hampering his development and, when he could not get guarantees of first-team football, he left for Turin. United need to make sure that Garnacho can see a clear path to the first team to make sure history does not repeat itself.
In fact, this ought to be the case for any talented youngster — with other talents emerging right now including Alvaro Fernandez and Hannibal Mejbri — who they want to be part of the first team in the long term.
United currently have Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Anthony Elanga, Anthony Martial, Facundo Pellistri and Amad who can play on the wing. Some of those will leave the club, most likely on loan, but that is still a lot of obstacles in the way of Garnacho getting minutes.
A Championship loan could be preferential for the coming campaign, giving Garnacho first-team minutes and allowing him to show his talent without fighting with a number of other wingers. But Ten Hag may have a different plan for him and all will likely be revealed over the coming months.
Luckily at 17, the Argentinian has time on his side; he just needs United's backing.
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