For the 2,000 or so fans in the Sir Alex Ferguson stand on Friday night, there was one player in particular they had come to see.
Those supporters inside Old Trafford for Manchester United Under-23s' 1-0 win over their Chelsea counterparts got what they wanted, especially in the second half, when Alejandro Garnacho played on the wing right in front of them.
The 17-year-old is probably the highlight of a miserable season for the club, despite not yet making a matchday squad with the first team. He's possibly the most popular player at Old Trafford at the moment and the buzz every time he set off on a run on Friday showed the anticipation that is following him around.
READ MORE: Alejandro Garnacho is becoming hard for United to ignore
A year ago Garnacho was a gem known only to academy aficionados, but his exploits in United's run to the Youth Cup final have captivated fans. In March he trained with Lionel Messi after being called into the Argentina squad.
Garnacho is now playing for Neil Wood's U23s on a regular basis and last week he stepped up to train with the senior squad a couple of times. But there is a desire at Carrington to protect the teenager from the spotlight and keep his feet on the floor.
He signed a sponsorship deal with Nike recently, a sign of his growing profile in the game and his status as a teenager who looks sure to make the grade, but for now United want to protect him from the attention.
"That’s the work all the staff do, the coaches and the staff off the pitch, we work hard to keep the boys grounded, they do get a lot of attention very young and you can see that on social media," Wood told the Manchester Evening News .
"That’s part of the challenge, we want to keep them humble and hungry, keep them working hard.
"It’s a collective [among the staff], you can’t let people get carried away and if they do they have to know where you draw the line. There has to be a good element of discipline, they need to know the rules and if they break the rules they’re the same as any other player, you’ll know about it.
"It’s a big club, you have to have some discipline on the pitch and show it off the pitch as well."
Garnacho delivered again at Old Trafford on Friday. He got the only goal of the game and has now scored six times at the Theatre of Dreams this season, with his previous coming in the Youth Cup.
He will get the chance to add to that total in the final against Nottingham Forest but his future lies with the U23s now and more sessions with the first team as well.
"He’s been doing really well, he’s done well in the Youth Cup," said Wood. "Some of the games with the 23s have been challenging for him, he did well on Friday but he’s coming up against more physical players, faster players and stronger players, that’s what is coming towards him, he’s not going to play under-18s forever.
"He’s had some great experiences lately, one or two days training with the first team, he’s been away with the national team and the Under-20s, he’s had some really good experiences over the last two weeks.
"When he’s running at players he’s a threat, he’s the type of player who gets the crowd excited, he’s a dribbler, he likes to run at players, but he’s got a lot of improving and developing to do.
"I think you can see on Friday, that he’s got to get better with his end products, get his shots on target and get the final ball for the assist. He’s got to arrive there and on Friday it wasn’t."
Garnacho signed that deal with Nike on his return from his week with Argentina and was then in the sportswear brand's box at Stamford Bridge for last week's Champions League quarter-final between Chelsea and Real Madrid, but Wood insists his spell with Argentina hasn't changed the teenager.
"He’s just been getting on with his work, he came to Leicester and had a really tough game, it was hard for him. He’s trained with us and he’s trained a couple of days with the first team, as have some of the other players," he said.
"If you’re at this club and you’re playing well then you will get your chance to go up there. It’s important they still get game time and games like Friday, the big games at Old Trafford against the likes of Chelsea, it’s a good test for him and it’s important to see where his level is at."
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