Alejandro Garnacho reflects on a ‘difficult’ last season at Manchester United and how a video call from Enzo Maresca led to his decision to sign for Chelsea.
Chelsea have already suffered three defeats in the Premier League this season, although Alejandro Garnacho scored his first goal for the club on Saturday as the London outfit lost 2-1 against Sunderland.
The former Manchester United forward left Old Trafford in the summer because he was surplus to requirements in Ruben Amorim’s preferred 3-4-2-1 system.
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Unlike Amad Diallo, who has proven his flexibility as a wing-back this season, Garnacho did not work hard enough to buy into Amorim’s tactics.
Garnacho made it clear throughout the summer that he only wanted to join Chelsea, despite interest from clubs around Europe.
Only time will tell if Garnacho can get back to his best in a Chelsea shirt. The highlight of his career so far came when United beat Man City in the 2024 FA Cup final.
Alejandro Garnacho playing against Sunderland
Photo by Jacques Feeney/Offside/Offside via Getty Images
Alejandro Garnacho explains Man Utd exit
Garnacho made 58 appearances in his final season at Old Trafford, but left under a grey cloud for Chelsea.
Amorim’s comments after United lost the Europa League final against Tottenham put Garnacho’s future in doubt before he was left out of the squad for pre-season.
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The 21-year-old will be working hard to build on his first goal in a Chelsea shirt, though it came as a shock at the weekend when Maresca took him off in the 58th minute.
However, Maresca has been managing Garnacho carefully since he moved to Stamford Bridge. He was left on the bench when United beat Chelsea 2-1 earlier this season.
Garnacho has revealed how a ‘difficult’ last season at Old Trafford led to a video call with the Chelsea manager. He knew from that point that he wanted to move his career to London.
In the latest Chelsea matchday programme, Garnacho said (cited by Sports Illustrated): “Obviously, in my last season at United, with the new manager, there were a lot of changes in the situation at the club and it was a bit difficult.
“I still played a lot of games last season, mainly from the start or sometimes from the bench.”But when I spoke with this club, with the manager, it’s important also the style of play we have now. He explained a lot to me in a video call with him, so I think it was a very important move for me and an opportunity to improve as a player in a team like Chelsea.”
Alejandro Garnacho joined Man Utd after Zoom call
Interestingly, a video call was used to convince Garnacho to sign for United in 2020.
Then-United academy director Nick Cox called Garnacho and his family on Zoom to finalise his move to Old Trafford.
The call was conducted on Zoom because of lockdown regulations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cox successfully persuaded Garnacho to continue his development at United by leaving Atletico Madrid’s academy.