Alejandro Garnacho is now six games into his Chelsea career after his summer move from Manchester United and remains without a goal or assist – a fact made to look even worse by what happened just after he went off against Nottingham Forest during Saturday lunchtime’s win.
Garnacho was banished by Man Utd in the summer despite the early signs of potential he’d previously shown at Old Trafford. Still backing himself to compete at the highest level, the winger secured a move to Chelsea in a deal worth £40m plus a sell-on clause.
But things haven’t been going that well for Garnacho so far and his struggles were in plain sight in Saturday’s clash with Nottingham Forest, which ended in a 3-0 victory for the 10-man Blues.
Replaced by Jamie Gittens, Garnacho was one of three players taken off by Enzo Maresca at half-time, at which point the game was goalless. Some believed Forest were the better side up until that point.
Less than five minutes into the second half, though, Chelsea had the lead. Josh Acheampong headed in a cross from Pedro Neto to make it 1-0.
Ironically, Neto had started on the right wing and Garnacho had started on the left. But Neto was on the left when he whipped the cross in for the opening goal.
In contrast, Garnacho failed to complete any successful crosses while he was attacking from the same flank.
Garnacho’s game by numbers
During his 45-minute cameo, Garnacho only touched the ball 18 times (only once in the opposition box). His only teammate with fewer touches in the first half was isolated striker Joao Pedro.
Garnacho didn’t get any shots away and only completed one successful dribble. The number of passes he completed was a paltry seven, with only one of those being into the final third.
In his defence, Garnacho did win four of his five ground duels, but his impact where it matters was minimal.
For example, there was one instance of him being near the box and tripping over the ball.
Alejandro Garnacho’s game by numbers vs. Forest:
3 unsuccessful touches
0/1 crosses completed
0 chances created
0 shots
0 assists
0 goals
Hooked. ♻️ pic.twitter.com/p1A5kDA2NK
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) October 18, 2025
A section of Manchester United supporters have been revelling in Garnacho’s downfall on social media, but some Chelsea fans are also questioning their decision to invest in him.
“Signing Garnacho has set our project back for at least 3 years,” posted CFCRaf2 on X.
The counter-argument would be that Garnacho is still only 21 and has time to improve, with a contract lasting until 2032, but he’ll need to get up and running fast to avoid becoming a social media meme.
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