Manchester United’s post-season tour has somehow managed to turn the optics even more against the club after an already wretched season.
The timing of the tour already made it a dicey footballing decision and then came the bombshell about Ruben Amorim’s brutal message to Alejandro Garnacho.
Despite that development, Alejandro Garnacho was included in the traveling squad and even played against ASEAN All-Stars in the 1-0 defeat.
United have already fumbled the first part of Garnacho’s potential transfer, and Amad’s recent comments suggest that the club is in damage-control mode.
Photo by James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images
Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images
Man Utd correcting Alejandro Garnacho error via Amad
It is the first rule in any negotiation that the asset that one needs to sell should be kept in pristine condition to get maximum value.
Therefore, the recent leaks from Man Utd suggesting Amorim told Garnacho to leave were hardly ideal ahead of a window where he’s expected to be sold.
Furthermore, Garnacho is arguably United’s most lucrative sale potentially, something that can transform the summer business if executed well.
It looked like that message had filtered through to the club and Amorim when the Man Utd manager took questions from the media before the game against Hong Kong.
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Amad was asked about Garnacho’s future and instead of giving a general answer full of generic platitudes, he made it clear that he hopes Garnacho stays.
He said: “Alejandro is a really good player and we need good players in the team. I know Garna really well, so I hope to have Garna next season. It is not really a big issue for the team. Everything is good now.”
Amorim clearly found this line of questioning funny, considering all that has gone on behind the scenes between him and the Argentine. In fact, he struck a different public tone too, stressing that Garnacho remains a United player.
He said: “He [Garnacho] is a player of #mufc, all the players are here. Some players are injured and it was better for them not to fly here to play these two games. It is a normal situation.”
Course correction needed on Garnacho
The statement above by Amad, even if he’s unlikely to get Garnacho to stay next season, is much preferable than what Amorim said in private and regrettably got leaked.
The previous two leaks of Amorim telling Garnacho to leave were damaging to the team’s chances of getting a good price for him.
Granted, this statement by Amad could be seen as a defiance of the head coach, who has reportedly made his stance very clear on Garnacho’s future.
However, Amad has been nothing but a model professional throughout his time at Old Trafford.
Therefore, it’s more likely that this is damage control to protect Garnacho’s value after a brutal round of leaks threatened lowball offers from other clubs.
That’s the best they can do for now but in the long-term, tightening the dressing room leaks has to be a priority.