Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim was unfazed by reports linking Alejandro Garnacho with a move to Chelsea this summer.
The Argentine winger endured a fractured relationship with the incoming tactician. Dropped alongside Marcus Rashford for December’s Manchester derby, Garnacho won his way back into Amorim’s affections only to be relegated to the bench for May’s Europa League final. The mercurial forward publicly hinted at a summer exit in the aftermath of the showpiece fixture and was then reportedly told by his coach to find a new club.
Amorim has now gone public with that stance. “I think Garnacho, you can understand and you can see, he’s a really talented boy,” the 40-year-old told The Telegraph during a roundtable with several English outlets. “And sometimes things don’t work out. You cannot explain specifically what it is. But I have the feeling, I think it’s clear that Garnacho wants a different thing with a different leadership. And I can understand that. So I think it’s not a problem.
“Sometimes you adapt to one guy, you have the connection. Other times, you want a new challenge. So, we try to make everything okay to all the parts. To the club, to the coach and to the players.”
Previous reports have claimed that Garnacho is prioritising a move to another Premier League club, with suggestions that Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr were turned down earlier this summer. Aston Villa had been linked with a move for the forward, yet Fabrizio Romano now reports that Garnacho’s “total priority” is Chelsea.
The Blues are expected to formalise their long-standing interest in the 21-year-old, although only after a deal for Xavi Simons has been completed.
Garnacho was not part United’s pre-season tour of the U.S., sitting it out alongside fellow bomb squad members Antony, Tyrell Malacia, Jadon Sancho and the now-departed Marcus Rashford. Amorim addressed the topic of these undesirable assets head on. “There are players that clearly show that they don’t want to be here and that is normal,” he shrugged.
“They are not bad and I’m good. I’m not the bad [one] and they are good. It’s a simple situation that they want new challenges. So we will try to use this space to prepare the team that I think is going to be here.
“If the market closes and then they are Manchester United players we as a club have to treat them in the same conditions. But in this moment I’m just working with the players that I think are going to stay and the other guys are trying to find a solution for their careers.”
READ THE LATEST TRANSFER NEWS AND RUMORS FROM WORLD SOCCER
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Ruben Amorim Gives Verdict on Alejandro Garnacho Links to Premier League Rival.