Manchester United icon and former academy manager Nicky Butt has torn into Alejandro Garnacho amid the Chelsea forward’s apparent latest act of rebellion at his new club – describing his attitude as a ‘disgrace’.
Garnacho fell out with United on a number of occasions when his time at Old Trafford was coming to an end, perhaps most famously with former manager Ruben Amorim when he was berated in front of the first team squad.
Now at Chelsea, the Argentine recently admitted he did ‘bad’ things before his time at the club ended, but that hasn’t stopped Butt offering his views on the winger from when they worked together at United.
Speaking on The Good, The Bad & The Football, Butt insisted Garnacho’s attitude was a problem from when he joined the club as a teenager – and that he should have been humbled by someone at the club as he made his way through the ranks – due to his attitude.
‘He signed at 16,’ Butt began. I’ was academy manager at the time and he signed in a deal where they also signed Alvaro (Fernandez). Garnacho was always a bit stand-off-ish, he had a high opinion of himself.
‘I thought he had an edge about him. And when he got into the first team – I will just say what I think because I was there – he got above his station way too quick. He got superstar status way too quick.
‘And that’s not a former player saying they get paid too much, I hope young players get paid millions, but he got superstar status too quick and he obviously scored the bicycle kick which was phenomenal.
‘Someone in that club or team at the time should have been swatting him down, and they might have been, and he ignored them. But the best thing Man United did was sell him because, forget his ability, and I don’t think he is that great anyway, but I thought his attitude was a disgrace when he was at Man United.
‘More importantly when he left, and if you completely disrespect your teammates and the football club when you leave, then that’s it.’
Garnacho had placed himself on a collision course with Amorim after publicly revealing his frustration at only being brought on as a late substitute in United’s dismal Europa League final defeat by Tottenham in 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’.
Daily Mail Sport reported in June that the winger was among five United players given permission to delay their return to training while they looked for new clubs. Garnacho is understood to have been told to move on by Amorim in front of his team-mates, and he eventually did that.
Before he left United, meanwhile, 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.
Last week, he appeared to delete all Chelsea-related posts from his TikTok account, before going onto play for the Blues at the weekend in their 1-0 defeat by his former side.
‘It is common knowledge that (Amorim) told him on the final game of the season that he can go find a new club,’ Butt, who played for United between 1992 and 2004, continued. ‘If he had been in our team then he would have been taken out every single day in training with the players we were brought up with. He would have been treated really badly, he’d have learned from that and got better.
‘He was 21 or whatever when he left the club but you can’t be up your own backside thinking you are as big or bigger than Man United. In an interview recently I watched it and he said “I thought I should have played every game”. I was thinking number one, you weren’t even that good, and number two you are young, be humble.
‘What I would say is that he was very mentally strong. We had a lad called Anthony Elanga, I thought he was better, if he went at the right-back and lost the first three he wouldn’t do it again. He wouldn’t want to give the ball away. He is different now.
‘Garnacho had that mentality to just keep going, that’s his biggest strength and that is why every now and again he will do something unbelievable. He has massive belief in himself.’
When asked by Premier League Productions if he regretted how his exit from United panned out, Garnacho said last week: ‘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 again.
That, he has said, was a key reason as to why he left – admitting that he made some questionable moves when he was out 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.’
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