Aston Villa Are Short on Money and Manpower But Even They Don’t Want Garnacho: Where Has It All Gone Wrong?

Aston Villa Are Short on Money and Manpower—But Even They Don’t Want Garnacho: Where Has It All Gone Wrong?

A little under three years ago, on 26 November, 2023, Alejandro Garnacho launched himself into international stardom after he opened the scoring in a 3-0 win against Everton with a sublime overhead kick that has gone down in history as one of the greatest goals ever scored.

The then 19-year-old had his breakout season a year prior, featuring in 34 matches in all competitions for the Red Devils, scoring four goals and winning the EFL Cup.

The season of his overhead kick saw his ceiling reach even higher. The Argentine scored 10 goals in 50 games, including the opener in the FA Cup final as Manchester United went on to beat rivals Manchester City 2-1.

"There are not so many players in world football who can take players on and outplay or out-dribble them. He has more skills than only that, for example finishing, but also he has a big engine, he is fast, he has speed he can keep running for 90 minutes or 120 minutes,” former manager Erik ten Hag said about his winger.

"Definitely it is a great skill when you are fearless or brave."

Less than a year after possibly his greatest moment in a red shirt, chaos had erupted.

Manchester United finished 15th under new head coach Ruben Amorim, had just lost the Europa League final to Tottenham Hotspur, and Amorim axed Garnacho in a brutal public dressing-down in front of the entire squad, telling him to 'pray' that he could find a new club.

In the space of just 365 days, Garnacho had gone from the pride and joy of the club to a social outcast who would never play for the side again.

A year on from that, Garnacho found himself facing the same treatment at Chelsea. The winger was unable to impress, scoring eight goals in 43 matches, and was shipped out to fellow Premier League side Aston Villa on a loan with an obligation to buy for £43 million.

But just a year and a few months after leaving Manchester, Garnacho has been unable to settle at any club.

Despite Aston Villa's poor form in the Premier League—the Villains sit 19th after four matches, having picked up just one point and scored one goal—the Argentine is seldom playing.

Garnacho has been offered just 31 minutes across three games in the Premier League and was an unused substitute in four separate matches.

Now, it seems like he may have realised what he lost at United.

With news breaking on JJ Gabriel's potential exit from the club, the world has been struck by the 15-year-old's gall to refuse training at his age, with many citing his supposedly problematic father.

In light of the news, Garnacho has had time to reflect on what went wrong for him at Manchester United.

In a post by @ericmiko.editz, captioned 'JJ Gabriel wanting to leave Manchester United after being called one of the greatest talents itw (in the world)... where have we seen this before', the post cuts to an edit of clips from Garnacho's time at United.

The Argentine reposted it.

At just 22 years of age, there is still time for the winger to turn his career around. The talent is still there—we saw glimpses of it at Chelsea.

But had he stayed at United and remained patient, would we be talking about Garnacho in a completely different light today?

The answer, of course, is impossible to know.

What we do know is that, three years ago, Garnacho looked like one of the brightest young players in world football.

The question now, is whether he can regain that talent.