Manchester United receive unwanted request for Alejando Garnacho, decision expected

He scored his 10th goal of the season at the weekend, becoming the youngest player since Cristiano Ronaldo to score in an FA Cup final, before academy team-mate Kobbie Mainoo repeated the feat minutes later.

If there’s one thing Garnacho and Mainoo need right now, it’s a rest. Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be happening anytime soon.

Mainoo is part of the Euro 2024 squad, while Garnacho is heading to the Copa America with Argentina. Now there is an additional complication.

Alejandro Garnacho wanted for the Olympic tournament

The Copa America tournament runs concurrently with Euro 2024, ending on July 14. Manchester United’s first pre-season game is on July 15.

Should Argentina reach the final, Garnacho would have extensions, possibly joining United in time for the first game in the US on July 27.

However, there is now an added complication with Argentina Under-23 boss Javier Mascherano signaling that he wants Garnacho in the Olympic squad for the Paris 2024 tournament.

According to TNT Sports Argentina, a request has been made to Manchester United to release Garnacho for the tournament.

The report states that “a decision is pending”, indicating that the Red Devils have yet to make a decision.

Whether United would deny Garnacho the chance to play at the Olympics is hard to say. The teenager is proud of his Argentinian heritage, recently draping himself in the country’s flag at Wembley as he celebrated winning the FA Cup, just as he did after winning the FA Youth Cup in 2022.

There is some good news, Lisandro Martinez is not one of the three senior players Argentina are planning to call up. They are Nicolas Otamendi, Julian Alvarez and Emiliano Martinez.

The Olympic football tournament runs from July 24 to August 10. Argentina would be one of the favored teams to go the distance.

This would mean Garnacho will miss the entire pre-season, including the Community Shield, which takes place on August 10.

He will not miss a Premier League game with the 2024/25 season starting on the weekend of August 17.

There is one rather obvious quandary though, when exactly might Garnacho rest?

He still has a few days to link up with Argentina before the Copa America. One small consolation is that he is not a regular starter. He has five caps in total, which includes just one start and just five minutes of action in competitive games.

Garnacho has 86 appearances for Manchester United already at the age of just 19. It is a very large number.

Fortunately, Marcus Rashford is resting this summer. It should be fresh at least next season, unlike Garnacho, which better enjoy this short one-week rest period while it can.

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