Former Manchester United defender-turned-pundit Rio Ferdinand has jumped to the defence of his former side’s Alejandro Garnacho after ex-teammate Roy Keane insisted that the 20-year-old shouldn’t be a regular starter at Old Trafford.
Keane, one of the greatest midfielders in Premier League history, spoke in the aftermath of their 2-1 win over Leicester City in the FA Cup fourth round and said that Garnacho, who came off the bench to great effect, should not be trusted to start regularly.
Ruben Amorim’s side found themselves with a mountain to climb late in their Friday night encounter. One goal behind heading into the second half, Garnacho played a key role in Joshua Zirkzee’s equaliser and was a constant threat throughout.
In response to Keane, Ferdinand backed the winger, “I don’t think his [Garnacho] stats are unbelievable this season, but in terms of impacting the game and putting the other team on the back foot, he is probably one of the only players who does it in our team.
You look at him and say his game isn’t 100 per cent clean but that can be developed. But he doesn’t lack effort, he doesn’t lack energy. He has got that belief and character that says ‘I should be here and I should be playing. Give me the ball at all times.’
Ferdinand then insisted that Garnacho is keen to get on the ball and a make a difference, “And in the situation we are in now where there are a lot of players shying away from the ball when the team aren’t doing well, he stands out like a sore form in that respect.”
“He reminds me of Nani. One of the frustrations is he would get to it [the ball] and make the wrong decision or he would get to it and his execution wouldn’t be clean,” he claimed. “But these players grow into that when given the time. Comments like that when you say he can’t be trusted, that’s a big comment for a young kid.”
After letting Marcus Rashford and Antony leave, Amorim is shortchanged of options from an attacking sense – Amad, Rasmus Hojlund, Joshua Zirkzee and the man in question – and Ferdinand claims that Garnacho is a starter by virtue of how thin they are.
I understand Roy might believe that but when you look at alternatives… If there were loads more options I would understand it but there is nothing else there that offers what he does and it is a hard one to understand.
A rare piece of good business from the Red Devils, Garnacho’s signature cost just £420,000 back in the summer of 2022 when he joined from Atletico Madrid. His future at the club came under the cosh in the summer just gone, however.
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Fellow English club Chelsea and Serie A outfit Napoli were both reportedly interested in his signature, but a move to the latter did not materialise as they were unwilling to break their wage structure to subsequently match the tricky wide man’s weekly demands.
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