Erik ten Hag expects Alexander Garnacho to challenge for starting position at Manchester United

Erik ten Hag wants to Alexander Garnacho start and challenge for a regular starting job after the 18-year-old committed his long-term future with Manchester United after signing a contract that keeps him with the team until 2028.

The talented winger arrived at Old Trafford from Atletico Madrid in 2020, in the last wave of international signings before the Brexit regulations changed. Garnacho was named Jimmy Murphy’s Young Player of the Year last season after playing a key role in United’s FA Youth Cup triumph and then made his first-team debut in April.

The Argentina youth international did not appear on the pre-season tour in Thailand and Australia after frustrating Ten Hag, but has since won over the Dutchman and signed a new contract until 2028. who has the prize and is a prize. He also shows that he can take the final step, not only in talent, but he also made it.

“Now it’s a new beginning, a reset, because now the expectations will be higher, the demands will definitely be higher. He is on his way, he is a strong character and that is why he is at this level at the moment, and he did it alone, but now there is more work ahead because the demands are higher, we expect more from him, ”said the Dutchman.

In addition, the strategist is confident that the Argentine will fight for a place in the starting eleven: “It’s great that he did it because he says that we will give young players opportunities, but they have to deserve it. When I say ‘give’ translate it to ‘deserve’ and they have to deserve it with their feet, they have to show it on the field and that means that you have to invest a lot and deserve it by training performance, performance in the under-21s, so wait for your moment and prove it again.”

“For Alejandro, he is that step further, but now the demands will be even higher because he now has to compete for a starting XI position. So every time it’s the same: you have to cross the limits and every time you have to go to the next level. We are going with him in that challenge, but the most important thing is that the player has to do it”, said Erik ten Hag.

Garnacho has been on the back burner for the past seven weeks with an ankle injury sustained against Southampton, a problem that also saw him miss out on a chance to link up with the Argentina senior team in March.

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