Alejandro Garnacho Ferreyra (born 1 July 2004) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for Premier League club Manchester United. Born in Spain, he plays for the Argentina national team.
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Alejandro Garnacho Ferreyra[1] | ||
Date of birth | 1 July 2004 | ||
Place of birth | Madrid, Spain | ||
Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1] | ||
Position(s) | Winger | ||
Team information | |||
Current team | Manchester United | ||
Number | 17 | ||
Youth career | |||
–2015 | Getafe | ||
2015–2020 | Atlético Madrid | ||
2020–2022 | Manchester United | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2022– | Manchester United | 52 | (10) |
International career‡ | |||
2021 | Spain U18 | 3 | (0) |
2022 | Argentina U20 | 5 | (4) |
2023– | Argentina | 5 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18:36, 25 April 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 03:15, 27 March 2024 (UTC) |
Garnacho joined Manchester United's youth system from Atlético Madrid in October 2020. He won the FA Youth Cup and the Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year award in May 2022. The month prior, he had made his first-team debut at the age of 17.
Garnacho initially played youth international football for Spain, the country of his birth, before making his debut for Argentina at under-20 level in 2022. He made his debut for the senior Argentina team in June 2023.
Born in Madrid, Garnacho joined Atlético Madrid's youth system in 2015 from Getafe.[2]
In October 2020, Garnacho joined the Manchester United Academy.[3] United paid Atlético a £420,000 fee.[4] He signed his first professional contract with the club in July 2021.[4]
Garnacho came under the spotlight for his solo goal in the FA Youth Cup win over Everton, which was nominated for United's Goal of the Month award for February 2022.[5] After being named as an unused substitute for several Premier League matches, Garnacho made his first-team debut for United on 28 April, replacing Anthony Elanga in the 91st minute of a 1–1 draw against Chelsea.[6] Garnacho won the Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year award in May.[7] He scored twice in the final of the FA Youth Cup against Nottingham Forest on 11 May, helping United win the competition for the first time since 2011.[8]
For the start of the 2022–23 Premier League season, he changed his shirt number from 75 to 49.[9] On 4 October, he scored a late winner for United's U21 against Barrow in the 2022–23 EFL Trophy.[10] Garnacho made his first senior start for United on 27 October, in a 3–0 win over Moldovan team Sheriff Tiraspol in the UEFA Europa League, whereafter he was praised by manager Erik ten Hag for his improvement over the past few weeks, saying that though previously dissatisfied, he was happy with Garnacho's improved attitude and resilience.[11] On 3 November, he scored his first senior goal in a Europa League match against Real Sociedad with an assist from his idol Cristiano Ronaldo.[12] Garnacho scored his first goal in the Premier League on 13 November, an injury-time winner against Fulham.[13] On 14 January 2023 in the Manchester derby, Garnacho set up Marcus Rashford's 82nd minute winner in a 2–1 win against Manchester City.[14] On 14 March 2023, Garnacho announced he would be sidelined for several weeks after suffering an ankle ligament injury during a game against Southampton.[15] On 28 April 2023, Garnacho signed a new contract extension that will last until 30 June 2028.[16]
On 13 May 2023, Garnacho returned from two months out with injury, scoring the second goal in a 2–0 victory against Wolves.[17]
Before the 2023–24 Premier League season, Manchester United announced that Garnacho's squad number would be changed from 49 to 17.[18] On 26 November, he scored his first goal of the Premier League season with a bicycle-kick from 15 yards (14 m) out to open the scoring in a 3–0 win over Everton, earning him the Premier League Goal of the Month for November 2023.[19] On 29 November, he scored his first Champions League goal in a 3–3 away draw against Galatasaray.[20] On 26 December, he scored two goals in a 3–2 comeback win against Aston Villa coming from 2-0 down, earning him the Man of the Match award.[21][22] On April 4 2024, he scored a brace to complete Manchester United's turnaround against Chelsea, initially leading 2–3. However, in a dramatic turn of events during stoppage time, Manchester United ended up losing the match 4–3.[23]
Garnacho was eligible to play for his country of birth, Spain, and Argentina, as his mother is Argentine.[24] He made three appearances for the Spain under-18 team in 2021.[25]
On 7 March 2022, Garnacho was called up to the senior Argentina team as part of an initial 44-man squad for their two World Cup qualifiers that month.[26] He made it to the final 33-man squad for the fixtures,[27][28] but did not make an appearance in either game.[29]
Garnacho made his debut for the Argentina under-20 side on 26 March 2022, when he started in a friendly match against the United States.[30] He scored four goals in four appearances[25] for the under-20 team at the 2022 Maurice Revello Tournament winning the Revelation Player and Goal of the Tournament awards.[31][32]
In March 2023, he was called up once again to the senior Argentina team for two friendly matches against Panama and Curaçao,[33][34] but had to withdraw from the squad after suffering an ankle injury.[15] He made his debut for the senior team on 15 June 2023, during a friendly against Australia at Workers' Stadium, coming on as a substitute for Nicolás González during the second half of the game.[35]
An energetic forward, Garnacho has been praised for his speed and dribbling abilities, as well as his ability to create chances and get into the box.[36] He is considered one of the most promising prospects of Manchester United's academy. At Manchester United, he has frequently been deployed as a winger on either the left or right flank.
His style of play has been heavily influenced by that of Cristiano Ronaldo, whom he idolizes.[37] He frequently performs Ronaldo's iconic goal celebrations while scoring goals himself, leading him to be nicknamed "El Bichito" after Ronaldo's own "El Bicho" nickname.
Garnacho was born 1 July 2004 in Madrid to a Spanish-born father, Alex Garnacho, and an Argentine mother, Patricia Ferreyra Fernández.[38] He has a younger brother, Roberto Garnacho. Alex Garnacho is closely associated to management firm, Leader Sports Management,[38] who currently represent Alejandro.
Garnacho and his girlfriend, Eva, have a son, Enzo, who was born on 4 October 2023.[39]
Club | Season | League | FA Cup | EFL Cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Manchester United U21 | 2021–22[41] | — | — | — | — | — | 1[a] | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||
2022–23[42] | — | — | — | — | — | 2[a] | 1 | 2 | 1 | |||||
Total | — | — | — | — | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | ||||||
Manchester United | 2021–22[41] | Premier League | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | |
2022–23[42] | Premier League | 19 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 6[b] | 1 | — | 34 | 5 | ||
2023–24[43] | Premier League | 31 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 6[c] | 1 | — | 44 | 9 | ||
Total | 52 | 10 | 9 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 12 | 2 | — | 80 | 14 | |||
Career total | 52 | 10 | 9 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 83 | 15 |
National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
---|---|---|---|
Argentina | 2023 | 3 | 0 |
2024 | 2 | 0 | |
Total | 5 | 0 |
Manchester United U18
Manchester United
Individual