A very promising rebel.
In the summer of 2020, Manchester United were actively purchased by European juniors: Brexit was visible on the horizon, due to which the transition of players under 18 became impossible. They took everyone.
One of these spontaneous purchases is Atlético’s young talent Alejandro Garnacho.
Ten Hag has relied heavily on the winger this season, with regular substitutions and over a thousand minutes in all competitions. With “Betis” Garnacho will not play due to an ankle injury received in the game with “Southampton” – because of this, he will also miss a trip to the Argentina national team (yes, he is already called up).
But this does not mean that Alejandro’s progress is not worth talking about.
Garnacho really could play for Spain, but chose Argentina – because of his mother
Alejandro’s story before this season is a repetition of dozens of similar ones: all his childhood (it took place in the south-west of Madrid) with the ball, dreams of getting into the Atlético or Real Madrid academy (he ended up spending five years at Atlético), a pack of goals in tournament La Liga Promises, moving to England, debut at the end of the 2021/22 season, when the team no longer claimed anything.
Only two details stand out.
Alejandro made his debut for United at the end of April: he appeared for a couple of minutes against Chelsea. By this time, the 17-year-old forward had led the boys to the final (5+3 in 5 matches, added a brace in the final), became the best U-18 player of the season and established himself in the U-21 team.
The family watched Alejandro’s first game from the stands : parents Alex and Patricia.
“I can’t put into words what I feel right now. I dreamed about this moment from the age of 4,” Garnacho wrote on social networks. – I want to thank everyone at the club for the opportunity, my family for always being with me, friends and all the fans for their constant support. We need to continue to work hard so that there are more such evenings. And remember guys, dreams do come true.”
The phrase “Dreams do come true” is not accidental – Garnacho has used it before. I signed a photo with Lionel Messi in training with the Argentina national team. Yes, Alejandro was called up to the national team even before his United debut.
Of course, Garnacho did not play for the national team last spring: he just trained with the first team, and then went to Javier Mascherano in the U-20s. This is a common practice for Argentina, and indeed for most national teams: it is important to have time to intercept a football player with dual citizenship before the arrival of the second federation – it was the same with Matthias Soule from Juventus (0 matches for the main team at the time of the call).
Oh yes, dual citizenship! Alejandro’s father is Spaniard, his mother is from Argentina, so the boy is available for both teams. But the mother did not leave Spain a chance: she gave her son blue and white T-shirts. And even a ball in national colors.
