Ruben Amorim believes Alejandro Garnacho has much more to offer Manchester United as speculation continues to gather about a move away from the club
Amorim named Garnacho in his starting line-up for the Europa League clash with Rangers despite Chelsea and Napoli stepping up their efforts to sign the Argentina international before the January transfer window closes.
The winger was one of United’s best performers in the scrappy 2-1 win, coming close to scoring for the first time since November when he hit the post in the second half.
Garnacho is one of the few players in the United squad with a high sell-on value, which has prompted the club to put him up for sale as they look to ease the pressure of the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules after heavy spending in the last three years.
He got on the wrong side of Amorim one month into the Portuguese’s reign and was dropped for the Manchester derby due to his attitude in training. But unlike Marcus Rashford, Garnacho immediately returned to the squad.
He set up Amad Diallo’s equaliser in the 2-2 draw at Anfield and also played in Bruno Fernandes to score in the FA Cup win over Arsenal.
“No, I’m focused on the games and he’s here, he’s a player for Manchester United. He was really important for us today and let’s see in the next days,” Amorim told a press conference. “I think he’s improving in every aspect of the game, he was better today playing inside, also outside, changing positions, he’s improving the recovering position. You can see it until 90 mins 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, was really clear, I just want to help them but in the end it’s them that do the job.”
Amorim dismissed the suggestion he needs to sign a player or two in the transfer window to put his stamp on the team.
He said: “It’s not other manager’s players, now they are my players, then you know the situation of the club and before doing anything we have to think what brought us to this moment and to this situation. So we have to be really clear on everything. My focus is on the next game, I understand the question but they are my players at the moment.”
The win over Rangers took United into fourth place in the Europa League standings with one game left of the League Phase, putting the Red Devils on track to secure a place in the top eight and an automatic berth in the competition’s last 16.
Next up for Amorim’s side is a trip to Fulham, where they will be looking to respond to their dismal last Premier League defeat by Brighton, which prompted the coach to describe his side as the worst in the club’s history.