Man United stars showed there is no love lost between the playing group and former team-mate Alejandro Garnacho following the Red Devils’ 1-0 win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Garnacho was the focus of attention on Saturday evening as he went up against former club United just days after revealing he did ‘bad’ things before sealing his £40million move to the Blues last summer.
The Argentine had endured a public falling out with former United boss Ruben Amorim, revealing his frustration at only being brought on as a late substitute in United’s dismal Europa League final defeat by Tottenham last May.
His brother Roberto also stoked the fire by posting a message on social media criticising the head coach for throwing Garnacho ‘under the bus’.
Before he left United, he posted a picture of himself wearing an Aston Villa shirt with the name of Marcus Rashford on – his former United team-mate who was also out of favour under Amorim.
While no United star has gone on the record to air their disapproval of Garnacho’s actions, their behaviour towards the Argentine after the final whistle on Saturday spoke volumes.
Fan footage showed Garnacho waiting on the Stamford Bridge turf as United made their way to the tunnel. In the clip, no visiting player engaged with the 21-year-old.
Later, veteran defender Luke Shaw posted an image of himself pushing Garnacho to the floor on Instagram, with the caption ‘important win’.
His post was flooded with comments from United fans – including Steven Bartlett who said ‘Ahahahahah’ – as well as his own team-mates.
United captain Bruno Fernandes shared a GIF which read: ‘That’s a violation’, while Alex Telles, who was a member of the United dressing room before leaving last summer, shared two fire emojis and a love heart.
Speaking candidly when asked by Premier League Productions if he regretted how his United exit panned out, Garnacho said: ‘Maybe yes, because I loved that club. They gave me the confidence from the start, from Spain, to bring me to the academy, then they bring me to the first team, so it was like four or five years, and amazing love from everyone, from the fans, the stadium, everything was really good.
‘It’s just sometimes you have to change for the good of your life or the next steps. I only have good memories of Man United.’
After a rocky start to life under Amorim, the Portuguese had praised Garnacho’s work to earn a spot back in his team, despite there being no natural fit in his back-three system.
The natural winger slotted into a No10 role, but things went south again and he fell down the pecking order once more.
That, he has said, was a key reason as to why he left – admitting that he made some questionable moves when he was out of the team.
‘I remember in the last six months I was just not playing like before at Manchester United,’ he said. ‘I started to be on the bench, it’s not a bad thing, I was only 20 years old, but in my mind it was like I had to play every game.
‘In my mind, maybe it is also on me, I started to do some bad things. But yes, it was just this moment in life and sometimes you have to make decisions and I am really proud to be here and still in the Premier League at a club like this.
‘Everyone knows the team we have and the things we can do. Sometimes, we have better moments or worse moments, I am proud to be here but with United, I have nothing wrong to say about the club, no one in the club or the team-mates. It’s just a moment in life that changes and life continues. I have no regrets.’
Garnacho struggled on Saturday night. In the first half he failed to register a shot, create a chance or complete a take-on. He lost the majority of his duels and lost possession on four occasions.
He failed to improve on his contributions in the second half, with Chelsea losing 1-0.
