Alejandro Garnacho made a £40million move to Chelsea from Manchester United this summer, and the Argentinian appears to be finding his stride both on and off the field under Enzo Maresca.
Alejandro Garnacho was seen encouraging Jamie Gittens as the two walked down the tunnel at Turf Moor on Saturday.
Gittens was included in Enzo Maresca’s starting eleven ahead of the Argentinian forward for Chelsea’s clash with Burnley, but instead of pulling out the dummy, the 21-year-old showed maturity with a gesture as the two walked into the tunnel for the second half.
Garnacho was walking ahead of the Englishman when Gittens appeared to call him and then mocked him by pointing his fingers at his eyes and joking that he was looking at him. Garnacho responded with a smile and a gesture as he walked out of the TV camera’s shot.
Despite failing to appear in the game from the bench, Garnacho was also quick to arrive at the away end of Turf Moor after Chelsea’s 2–0 win and thanked the fans for making the long trip to the north west from the English capital.
And when Gittens marked his appearance against Burnley with a carousel of photos on Instagram after the game, Garnacho once again showed his support with a glowing comment. On the post, Garnacho wrote: “Jammy,” along with a starry-eyed emoji, to which Gittens replied: “My brother,” along with a fingers-crossed emoji and a love heart.
As a result, it seems as if Garnacho is not only finding his stride on the pitch, but he is also building stronger relationships with his new teammates. Since making a £40million move from Manchester United this summer, Garnacho has scored two goals and two assists in 10 appearances in all competitions.
Meanwhile, Maresca also praised the talent earlier this month. He said of Garnacho: “He arrived here from another club where he was not training 100 percent so his physical condition was not good.
“Slowly, slowly, it’s better now. He’s doing very good on the ball but he’s also very good off the ball. He knows to play with us he has to be good on the ball and off the ball otherwise he won’t be able to play. We’re very happy with him at the moment.”
It’s a stark contrast to how Garnacho fared with United earlier this season. After falling out of favor under Rubén Amorim, Garnacho criticized the club’s poor performance, finishing 15th in the Premier League.
He was also disappointed to lose to then-struggling Tottenham in the Europa League final. He said in May: “It’s hard for all of us. This season has been very bad. We lost the final, we didn’t beat anyone in the PL. It’s very hard.”
It came as United made use of some creativity from Garnacho on Monday night, with the Reds struggling to create chances against 10-man Everton at Old Trafford. Despite having a numerical advantage, resulting in Idrissa Gueye’s red card for slapping teammate Michael Keane just 13 minutes into the match, United struggled to crack the code of David Moyes’ revitalized outfit.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall stole the game for the visitors 29 minutes into the match, his goal ultimately deciding the match as a result of a Jordan Pickford masterclass. United may also be feeling the sting of mid-season injuries, having had to rely on Joshua Zirkzee for this period with Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Cesco sidelined.
Zirkzee has struggled to adapt to the physicality of the Premier League since moving from Bologna last summer, and scored just three goals in the English top flight last season. It will be interesting to see how Amorim adapts in the coming weeks, given that Cesco is expected to be out of action until December.
It is also unknown when Cunha will return to action after suffering an injury in training last week. United next face Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Sunday, November 30.
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