Manchester United have finished their pre-season tour of Asia and Australia and are returning back to Manchester. And it was a highly successful endeavour as Erik ten Hag learnt more about his players as they made rapid strides in understanding how the new boss wants them to play.
As has been the norm under every United manager, a lot of youngsters were involved in the four matches. The only surprise was that the breakout star of last season — Alejandro Garnacho — has not got a minute of action so far.
He had even returned early to Carrington following his international exploits at the Toulon Tournament in a bid to catch the former Ajax manager’s eye.
Erik ten Hag is really convinced by the talent of Alejandro Garnacho. A new contract offer has been approved by Ten Hag [@FabrizioRomano] #MUFC
— academyarena Utd (@academyarenaUTD) July 23, 2022
Ten Hag has given minutes to Charlie Savage, Zidane Iqbal and even Tahith Chong who is most likely to be sent out on loan or sold permanently.
The Dutchman had made it clear that he wants to build a competitive team and as his focus is on that, it will not be possible to give chances to every youngster in the group.
“We have experienced players, but we also wanted to give some young talents the chance. I can not give all the young players the chances they deserve because we have to construct a team.”
However, Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano has confirmed that the Argentine has impressed the manager enough to warrant a new contract offering from the club.
Garnacho’s role next season
On his Youtube channel, Romano revealed, “Ten Hag is really convinced of the skills of this boy (Garnacho). The idea of the club is to offer him a new contract. It’s also approved by the manager. Contract discussions will be ongoing with Garnacho.
“Lets see if Man United will decide to keep him or send him on loan during the window.”
The 18-year-old was tipped for big things by interim boss Ralf Rangnick, who handed him his first-team debut against Chelsea. He had fired United to FA Youth Cup success last season.
At the moment, the wide players seem to be working the best and it would seem like the Argentina U-20 international will have to wait for his time to shine.
With Ten Hag favouring other areas of the pitch, it might seem like the Old Trafford club has other plans for the academy starlet. A loan move could be on the cards or he could get his chances during the Europa League group stages while playing regularly for the U-23 team.
The Red Devils have two back-to-back friendlies coming up and Ten Hag’s plan will be to lock in on his ideal first XI while figuring out his reserves for the season. And it is likely that Garnacho might finally get to see some action in either of the games.
Despite this small setback, the Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year is expected to be the next big star out of the United production line and the Dutch boss might be doing the best thing for his development considering his age.
