Fabrizio Romano relays worrying update coming out of Manchester United this afternoon

Stretty News

·7. Oktober 2024

Fabrizio Romano relays worrying update coming out of Manchester United this afternoon

Manchester United star Alejandro Garnacho won’t be taking part in the October international break due to a knee injury.

The Argentina international has been a key player for United over the last year or so, but he’s not quite been able to light up consistently in a team struggling for form this season.

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Garnacho has now revealed that he’s been carrying a knee problem, which he says will now keep him out of action for the upcoming international break.

He was one of 27 players named in Lionel Scaloni’s squad for the matches against Venezuela and Bolivia. Argentina have no shortage of forward options for October’s matches, including Lionel Messi, Lautaro Martinez, Paulo Dybala and Julian Alvarez.

The United forward shared his update via Instagram in Spanish, but it has since been relayed by transfer expert Fabrizio Romano in English on X (formerly Twitter).

“I’ve had knee problems for the last two games and I’m not able to be with the national team, but I hope to recover quickly and be with them for the next matches,” Garnacho posted on Instagram.

Alejandro Garnacho via Instagram

This explains why Garnacho didn’t start against FC Porto in the Europa League, but instead came on to replace Marcus Rashford at half-time. He played 90 minutes against Aston Villa on Sunday.

Garnacho has made 11 appearances for Ten Hag’s side this season, making seven goalscoring contributions.

United can’t afford to lose Garnacho to injury

(Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)

Garnacho is United’s most threatening player in the final third and that was the case last season, too.

The problem with United’s attack is our players aren’t scoring enough goals. While the 20-year-old chips in now and then, he is not yet a consistent goalscorer.

It doesn’t take away from the fact United would be a much weaker force without the No.17 in the team. The drop-off to Antony, for instance, is statistically significant, with the Brazilian having registered one goal in 139 minutes of action this season (compared to his now-injured teammate’s seven goal contributions in 593 minutes).

The underlying numbers would likewise support this given that the former Ajax star’s non-penalty xG (48th percentile) falls considerably short of Alejandro Garnacho’s ranking (84th percentile), according to FBref.

That is why I hope the injury is more precautionary than serious.

Sitting out the international break may be for the best.