What happened to "Alejandro Garnacho," the once blazing rising star of the "Red Devils" Manchester United, whose form has crashed like a light about to go out at the "Blue Lions" Chelsea? Let's follow the whole story together.
Going back to when Alejandro Garnacho was a rising talent making his name with the red giant of Manchester during Erik ten Hag’s era—the former Dutch coach—with a dazzling, thrilling dribbling style. He idolized Cristiano Ronaldo and admired Lionel Messi, a senior compatriot, which gradually helped him gain fame.
Until his bicycle kick goal against the "Toffees" Everton in a 3-0 away win at Goodison Park, and being the hero scoring the winning goal in the FA Cup final where "the Red Devils" Manchester United beat "the Sky Blues" Manchester City 2-1. However, behind the scenes, tensions grew with the team staff due to attitudes disliked by seniors like Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro, as well as off-field behavior involving images resembling vaping and laughing gas use, making his future with the team look like a countdown. In January 2025, he almost moved to "the Azzurri" Napoli, but the deal failed. Meanwhile, Ruben Amorim, another former coach, began relegating him to the bench.
Similarly, in the UEFA Europa League final against "the Spurs" Tottenham Hotspur on 21 May 2025, Garnacho was named a substitute. The team lost 0-1, and he only played 19 minutes as a substitute, which understandably upset the player because he had been a starter in every knockout round game.
Afterward, Garnacho’s younger brother posted on social media that his brother worked harder than anyone, giving his all, scoring goals, and playing a key role for the team, yet only received 19 minutes in the final. Garnacho himself remarked in a way that could be interpreted as, "I played every match to get the team to the final, but today I got less than 20 minutes on the pitch."
Following this, rumors spread that Ruben Amorim was so angry with Garnacho that he told him to find a new team in front of other teammates. Additionally, Garnacho wore an "Aston Villa" shirt belonging to Marcus Rashford, which drew criticism from football experts and fans who saw it as inappropriate and provocative.
Towards the end, Garnacho was banned from the team until his agent negotiated with the "Blue Lions" Chelsea, leading to his desired transfer for £40 million (about 1.732 billion baht) because the player insisted that if he didn’t go to Chelsea, he wouldn’t play for 6 to 12 months.
Garnacho later said he had no regrets about leaving the "Red Devils" Manchester United and wanted to prove that his former team was wrong to let him go. However, everything is now the opposite, as he has hardly had the opportunity to play at Stamford Bridge as expected.