Is Man United’s Garnacho the most underrated wonderkid around? | OneFootball

Alejandro Garnacho has had a good start to the season for Manchester United, all things considered.

The Red Devils have struggled in 2024-25 so far, putting in a run of form that saw Erik ten Hag lose his job. Ruben Amorim is now the man in the dugout and he’ll be hoping to turn things around after the international break.

One player he will know he can rely on is Garnacho.

Garnacho became a regular feature in Man United’s team last season, playing 50 times across all competitions with 41 of those appearances coming from the start. He was directly involved in 15 goals across all competitions, scoring 10 and providing a further five assists. Only two players scored more goals for Man United than Garnacho, and only one player provided more assists.

The Argentine was flexible for Ten Hag, playing on either wing and sometimes starting through the middle. Ten Hag knew that he was always going to get something from Garnacho, who scored the opening goal in the 2-1 FA Cup final win over Manchester City.

He continued the form into the new campaign. Again, Garnacho has been playing on either wing for Ten Hag and then Ruud van Nistelrooy, though he has had slightly more game time on the left. And again he’s been reliable.

After 17 games, Garnacho is just four goal involvements off matching his return from last season. He sits top among Man United players for goals across all competitions with seven, and second on assists with four — only bettered on the latter by Bruno Fernandes.

Of course, some might say that isn’t a hard task this season. But that’s unfairly taking credit away from Garnacho. Former Man United defender Rio Ferdinand has recently spoken highly of Garnacho, reminding any doubters that the Argentinian has been directly involved in more goals this season than the likes of Bukayo Saka, Ousmane Dembele, Kylian Mbappe, Rafael Leao, Nico Williams, Michael Olise and Phil Foden.

“He is a trier. He gives you everything he’s got,” Ferdinand told his podcast.

“He reminds me of Nani in that sense. Nani didn’t always pick the right decision. Nani didn’t always execute at the end of it, but one thing he never lacked was balls to say ‘Give me it again’.

“I will tell you one thing; the amount of players that had ability but made a mistake on the big stage and went into their shell or took the easy option, there’s loads of them. There are not many who [say], ‘Give it to me again. I lost it three times but give it to me again’.

“There are other of players who have more ability than him. But they will not have the character and the perseverance to elevate themselves.”

Garnacho has really been flying high this season. He leads Man United for shots (53) and shots on target (20) across all competitions, as well as big chances scored. He’s attempted the second-most take-ons (38) behind only Marcus Rashford’s 48. The Argentine also leads for non-penalty Expected Goals (5.49) and xG on Target (5.33).

Off the ball, Garnacho has been doing his bit too. He sits fourth for possessions won in the attacking third (8), sixth for possessions won in the middle third (23) and fourth for possessions won in the defensive third (27). The latter stat is particularly showing of Garnacho given his all for the team.

Ferdinand’s comparisons may be true, but they do also leave out some context. Saka leads the Premier League for assists with seven, Dembele has been fairly even in Ligue 1 with five goals and four assists, and Mbappe has scored six goals in La Liga.

But it’s easy to forget that Garnacho is only 20, leaving his teenage years in the summer. So while Garnacho may actually trail some of his position-mates across Europe, there’s still a lot of room for the Argentine to grow.

Why did Garnacho not celebrate his goal against Leicester?

Garnacho was also a topic for discussion recently as he refused to celebrate his strike in Man United’s 3-0 win over Leicester City. Earlier in the week, a video was posted on social media of a fan insulting Garnacho as he entered Old Trafford ahead of Man United’s Europa League game against PAOK. Garnacho played 65 minutes in that game without a goal or assist, but used his next match to make a statement.

The Argentine only played 33 minutes against Leicester but wrapped up the scoring late on in the Premier League. His lack of celebration was talked about, and cleared up by captain Fernandes after the game.

“Garnacho scored a banger but didn’t celebrate like he should because he thinks he has lost faith from some fans. I told him people will always moan but lots of people like you and enjoy what you do,” Fernandes told BBC Sport.

While a lot of fans will have understood Garnacho’s resistance to celebrating, it didn’t go down well with former Man United midfielder Roy Keane.

“If you can’t celebrate a goal, there is something drastically wrong with this game. Whatever has gone on off the pitch for any player – it could be family stuff – you work all week, you’re playing the game to score a goal,” Keane told the Stick to Football podcast.

“When you score a goal, there should be nothing else on your mind. You’ve got fans who have travelled, paid fortunes to get there, and he’s [ Garnacho] on about people having a go at him.”

He added: “People make sacrifices to travel to watch Manchester United, he scores a brilliant goal, they are having a tough time – and if a younger player can’t enjoy scoring a goal for Man United, then get a job somewhere else.”