Liverpool icon Graeme Souness says that Alejandro Garnacho “acts like a wrong’un” and has “no chance of fulfilling” his potential at Manchester United.
The Argentine winger has fallen out of favour at Old Trafford and reportedly ‘disrespected his manager’ on the touchline, leading Souness to criticise the 20-year-old.
Garnacho had been a regular performer under Erik ten Hag but left on the fringes by Ruben Amorim, as Souness handed the starlet a reality check and concerningly cast doubt about his future at United.
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“I spoke last week about the example Bruno Fernandes sets and I hear about Alejandro Garnacho being unhappy with the manager,” Souness wrote for the Daily Mail. “Can someone remind me of just who he is?
“The last time I looked he was only a 20-year-old boy. One who is only one step up, on a ten-rung ladder. Who are you? He acts like a 'wrong 'un' on the football pitch and, unless he changes, he's got no chance of fulfilling what obvious potential he has.
“Going back to my generation and before, Manchester United have always had a problem in keeping players grounded.”
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Souness felt that Sir Alex Ferguson made strong efforts to prevent up-and-coming talents from getting ahead of themselves by keeping authority figures at the club.
He noted the presence of Paul Scholes and Gary Neville in the dressing room long after they were considered starters, pointing the finger that the current squad are lacking such leaders.
“I never get tired of underlining the value of having good senior professionals in your dressing room but there has been a drought of real men at Manchester United for over a decade now,” he added.
“You need good senior professionals to help. Digging others out when they're not coming up to standards that are needed if you want to be winning trophies, and just affording time and advice to these young men, given the distractions in the modern game today.
“They have an enormous part to play in getting the message across, exerting standards, so that come match day there has to be less finger pointing and more looking in the mirror. Where are the senior figures here? Fernandes? Is that the best you can do?
“United supporters will remember Sir Alex Ferguson calling Paul Scholes out of retirement at 37, and keeping Gary Neville around the place past his sell by date, simply because they were two fantastic types that would have trained every day like it was the last session they ever had.
“What an example to have for young players making their way in the game. For too long, the current United players have accepted mediocrity. You can sense it's a dressing room where individuals go 'it's not my fault'.”
