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Fresh doubt has been cast over the future of Manchester United starlet Alejandro Garnacho with probing interest from Napoli as they look to replace PSG-bound Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
United boss Ruben Amorim has reinstated his belief that the 20-year-old’s future is at Old Trafford after handing Garnacho his first start in eight matches in a thrilling FA Cup penalty win over Arsenal on Sunday (January 12). The previous start was a less-than-convincing display in a 3-2 loss to Premier League surprises Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford.
But, it seems manager and fans alike are hoping to keep hold of Garnacho – who has proven to be one of the few shining lights to come through Old Trafford’s leaking roof in recent years. The interest from Serie A comes at a time when teammate Marcus Rashford has also been touted for a move to Italy, drawing interest from AC Milan.
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On the latest episode of The Overlap, United legends Roy Keane and Gary Neville gave their verdicts on rumblings that United would have to sell young talents.
“I think [the reports] comes off the back of them [United] maybe being willing to listen to offers for Garnacho, maybe, [Kobbie] Mainoo and Rashford – I don’t know if it’s true or not.”
“Why shouldn’t you sell if you get a good offer?” Former captain Keane asked. “I didn’t like it when Chelsea started selling their academy players,” Neville began. “I certainly don’t like the idea of United having to sell players in the first team [like Garnacho and Mainoo].”
“Garnacho has AC Milan vibes,” co-presenters Ian Wright and Jamie Carragher agreed before Neville relayed “I think Napoli have bid 38 or 40 million [euros].”
Here, we take a closer look at the latest news, views and rumours surrounding Garnacho’s future;
Amorim stance on Garnacho
As mentioned, Amorim has expressed an unwillingness to allow the club’s young talents to leave as he tries to rebuild United back to former glories. In his latest press conference Amorim made it clear that Garnacho has the talent but highlighted areas he will need to improve in if he’s to once again become a mainstay in the starting 11.
He said: “That is clear. He has talent. He needs to learn to play in a different position. He needs to play better inside.
“He improves a lot in the recovering position when he doesn’t have the ball. But doing that, sometimes he’s not in the right place to make transitions like he was in the past. I prefer to defend and then build up with all the team to reach the final third.
“He’s finding the best way to play in this system. He’s improving during training. He started the last game. Let’s see tomorrow. I think he changed the way he sees himself.”
Amorim has overseen 13 games as United boss, earning five wins, two draws and six defeats in that time. The penalty win over Arsenal was their first win, albeit not in 90 minutes, in five matches since dropping Garnacho from the starting line-up. The team earned two immediate victories, including the shock upset against Manchester City, after relegating the Argentine winger from the first 11.
Garnacho provided an assist in the FA Cup penalty win over Arsenal.
Garnacho to Napoli option
Despite the manager’s wishes to keep his most talented assets at United, he might still have to succumb to internal pressures if a player is dead-set on leaving Manchester. The Manchester Evening News understands United have refused to rule out any academy sales amid the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules and Napoli have been linked with a move for Garnacho in the winter transfer window.
So, why might Garnacho be interested in a move away from Old Trafford? If reports are to be believed, then Antonio Conte’s side would be in pole position to land the wideman. Multiple outlets in Italy insist Napoli’s sporting director, Giovanni Manna, has already met with Alejandro’s agents in Barcelona earlier this week.
Coach Conte has once again proven his pedigree when it comes to chasing Scheduttos with Napoli topping Serie A and in formidable form with five straight wins. This, along with the Naples side’s affinity to great Argentine footballers might be enough to turn Garnacho’s head in the direction of the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium.
In contrast, United’s latest well-documented struggles have them languishing in 15th position in the Premier League – less than 10 points above the relegation zone. However, a key stumbling block is likely to be the fee United would demand.
Gazzetta dello Sport believes Napoli would be quoted €80 million (£67m) for the player but states Napoli are “pushing for a substantial discount” and are “ready to put €45m (£38m) on the table, bonuses included”. A report from Calciomercato claims that Garnacho has agreed personal terms with the Italian side while the Independent is reporting that the move is not yet that far down the line but the winger is open to it.
It seems unlikely this amount would even bring United to the negotiating table and with their extensive summer dealings, which included luring Scott McTominay to Naples as well as former United striker Romelu Lukaku for €30m (£25m) a piece, Napoli might not have the capacity to increase a potential offer.
Napoli have made Garnacho their ideal replacement for Khvicha Kvaratskhelia -Credit:Anadolu via Getty Images
Garnacho’s issues at United
Reasons vary for why Garnacho might have been initially dropped but there are two issues considered to be the cause. There had been reports of a ‘show of dissent’ towards Amorim after which the head coach saw fit enough to drop Garnacho out of the squad.
Representatives for the 20-year-old have dismissed this rumour – insisting the player is wholly professional. Another, more visible, reason is his current inability to provide what Amorim wants from his No.10s.
In his 3-4-3 set up, Amorim elects for two No.10s to play off of a lone striker with fullbacks providing width in attack. One of the few successes this tactical set-up has brought United is the promising form of Diogo Dalot and Amad, who recently signed a new deal, in these wide positions.
Garnacho has been primarily used as an inside player behind the striker thus far. Ahead of Thursday’s game at home to Southampton, Amorim has claimed he wants his side to be tougher to play again following three straight home defeats to Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth and Newcastle.
He said: “I think we want to be a team that is hard to play. It’s like I had this feeling, especially at home in the last games, that we were easy to play. And we have to be honest with that.
“So if we face the competition the right way, we will be tough to beat for any opponent. So that’s what I wanted. That’s what I felt in the last two games.
“It’s a [pride] thing. Yeah, I think that we need to think about that and we have to feel it.
“This team in the past scored a lot of goals from transition. Not from building up in the half of the opponent’s pitch. So we’ll see tomorrow. We have a lot to improve.
“I think we, as a team, are not used to spend a lot of time in the last third of the opponent. We had some games here that we lost and we had that control, but the threat was not there.
“And we have to have time to train that. And the players have to spend a lot of time during training, during the game, to be good at this moment. And if you see – and I saw a lot of games before – we scored a lot of goals like Garnacho doing transitions, Rashford. But then you see the difference of our goals is like always negative and it’s still negative.
“And I think that is the biggest problem in our team. The lack of goals and the lack of ability to play in the last third of the opponent, to control the games, to control more of the games. So we know that.:
“We need time to train. We try to pass the information, but it’s harder for us to score in that way than in transitions.”