Why Manchester United selling Alejandro Garnacho would be a bad ...

As the chorus of ‘Viva Garnacho’ started to spread around Old Trafford, the flag of Argentina was unfurled in one section of the Stretford End.

United fans have long had an affinity for Argentine players, dating back to the treatment of David Beckham upon his return from the 1998 World Cup, drawn from an antipathy towards England’s national team among the club’s match-going support.

But it was also the aggression and single-mindedness of players such as Carlos Tevez and Gabriel Heinze that struck a chord with the United crowd. ‘Grinta’ (grit), as the club’s previous manager Erik ten Hag would call it when identifying similar qualities in Lisandro Martinez.

Alejandro Garnacho is not exactly cut in the same mould as those compatriots of his — less ‘grinta’, more Insta at times — but he shares a streak of tenacity with them that United supporters find endearing.

It was there to see in Thursday’s 2-1 win against Scottish visitors Rangers in the Europa League, which was Garnacho’s liveliest display so far of his two months under Ten Hag’s replacement Ruben Amorim and also his three-year United career in microcosm: raw, exuberant, the good kind of selfishness; lacking in a killer’s instinct at times, although leaving you in no doubt as to his potential.

But the question is no longer whether those supporters at Old Trafford will see Garnacho realise that potential. It is whether they will see him again full stop.

(Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

The next 10 days will likely decide the 20-year-old’s future as a United player. Should he depart before the visit of Crystal Palace on February 2, a day before the current winter transfer window closes, Thursday will have been Garnacho’s last outing at the stadium. Napoli of Italy and Chelsea are both circling.

“I don’t know what will happen,” head coach Amorim told TNT Sports during its broadcast of the Rangers match. “We have these players, so let’s improve the team and think about the players that are here. Until the window is closed, anything can happen.”

That was not a denial. There was no insistence from Amorim that he wants Garnacho to stay either, just an acknowledgement that anything can happen and, therefore, might. It was about as revealing as a straight-bat answer can be.

Of all United’s players, it has been argued that Garnacho is the most awkward fit in Amorim’s preferred 3-4-2-1 system. He is certainly not an integral part of it. Since being dropped from the squad entirely for the Manchester derby on December 15, he has only started three of United’s following nine games across four competitions.

Yet while speaking to the broader media later, in his post-match press conference, Amorim gave lie to the idea that Garnacho is entirely incompatible with his project as it moves forward.

“I think he’s improving in every aspect of the game,” Amorim said. “He was better today playing inside, also outside, changing positions. He’s improving the recovering position. You can see it, until 90 minutes he’s always there, recovering and helping, sometimes showing some frustration — and that is good because he wants more.

“I think he has potential to be so much better in every situation in the game. What I can say is he understood what I was trying to do, (that) was really clear.”

The penny is dropping as he nears three months playing the Amorim way and why wouldn’t it? Garnacho is still at a developmental, impressionable age. He is a right-footed left-winger who, instead of cutting in from the flank, is now tasked with playing slightly narrower and often closer to the opposition goal.

The idea that such a shift is beyond him and that this has already been conclusively proven so early in Amorim’s reign should be for the birds. If anything, United look a more potent, threatening side with Garnacho than without him.

No player in United’s squad takes more shots over the course of 90 minutes. After seven on his start last on Thursday against Southampton in the Premier League, there were another five last night — on both occasions, the most of any player on the pitch. Garnacho’s finishing has to improve, but he is a persistent threat.

With the speed and ability to run off the designated centre-forward in Amorim’s 3-4-2-1, he adds dynamism to an attack that is sorely lacking in it. He is not simply a player this goal-shy United team need to keep, but one they need to play.

The trouble is, Garnacho is also that rarest of things: a United player others would pay good money for. A sale would ease some of the club’s issues in regard to complying with financial fair play (FFP) regulations and would raise cash to reinvest in Amorim’s squad.

GO DEEPER

Why Manchester United have a cash problem

That, more than any concerns about tactical fit under the new head coach, is why United will reluctantly consider offers for Garnacho. And that word feels significant. When was the last time United ‘reluctantly’ sold a player? It is not a position that the club, given their size, stature and historical spending power, have typically found themselves in.

Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009, probably. At least then the lure of Real Madrid and a world-record £80million transfer fee was undeniable.

(Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images)

But today, what would it say if United found themselves reluctantly selling a player again, only this time not because the offer and the opportunity were too good for either they or the player to refuse, but out of grim, basic, financial necessity? Essentially, as penance for years of overspending?

GO DEEPER

Manchester United live Q&A: Carl Anka answers your questions

Ronaldo’s exit to Madrid brought no shame on United, but if done solely to raise cash or satisfy spending rules, Garnacho’s would be a far greater indictment of the club’s ownership and management and the decisions they have taken over the past decade.

‘Viva Garnacho’ is a variation on Ronaldo’s old song, of course.

Its airing during the second half of Thursday’s game, not long after the 20-year-old had hit the post, was long, loud and pointed, as though they hoped they would have the chance to sing it again.

(Top photo: Craig Foy/SNS Group via Getty Images)