Nicky Butt rips into “disgrace” Alejandro Garnacho, exposes attitude issues

Former Manchester United man Nicky Butt has delivered a scathing critique of Alejandro Garnacho, pointing to the behavioural concerns that marked his time at the club.

Humiliated

Garnacho endured an extremely difficult game on Saturday as United beat Chelsea 1-0 at Stamford Bridge. He came on in the first half for the injured Estevao and had no impact whatsoever for the Blues, who are currently in a torrid run of form.

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Diogo Dalot had a comfortable game against the forward, who repeatedly broke down Chelsea’s attacks and bizarrely kept tumbling over even under minimal pressure.

After the final whistle, Luke Shaw appeared to aim a dig at the Argentina international when he posted a picture of himself flooring the Chelsea star to the ground. Several United players responded to the post, ridiculing Garnacho and offering a stark indication of how unpopular he may have been within the Old Trafford dressing room.

Since joining Chelsea from United last summer, Garnacho has struggled to make an impact. His departure from United was somewhat acrimonious, following a public falling out with then-manager Ruben Amorim. Unhappy at being left on the bench for the Europa League final loss to Tottenham, Garnacho criticised Amorim for the decision while also raising questions about his future at the club.

The shocking episode was the final straw in a long history of misconduct by the 21-year-old and his brother, with United appearing to have finally run out of patience.

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A recent report covered by The Peoples Person relayed that Sir Jim Ratcliffe was over the moon and could hardly contain his joy when Chelsea lodged a £40m bid for Garnacho.

Speaking on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast, United legend former academy manager and coach (coached reserves and briefly served as Ryan Giggs’ assistant), Nicky Butt, ripped into Garnacho’s attitude and shed some details on his experience with the player.

Butt tears into Garnacho

Butt said, “He signed at 16. I was academy manager at the time and he signed in a deal where they also signed Alvaro (Fernandez). Garnacho was always a bit stand-off-ish; he had a high opinion of himself. I thought he had an edge about him. And when he got into the first team – I will just say what I think because I was there – he got above his station way too quick. He got superstar status way too quick.”

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“And that’s not a former player saying they get paid too much, I hope young players get paid millions, but he got superstar status too quick and he obviously scored the bicycle kick which was phenomenal.”

“Someone in that club or team at the time should have been swatting him down, and they might have been, and he ignored them. But the best thing Man United did was sell him because, forget his ability, and I don’t think he is that great anyway, but I thought his attitude was a disgrace when he was at Man United.”

Butt added, “More importantly when he left, and if you completely disrespect your teammates and the football club when you leave, then that’s it.”

“It is common knowledge that (Amorim) told him on the final game of the season that he can go find a new club. If he had been in our team then he would have been taken out every single day in training with the players we were brought up with.”

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“He would have been treated really badly, he’d have learned from that and got better.”

“He was 21 or whatever when he left the club but you can’t be up your own backside thinking you are as big or bigger than Man United. In an interview recently, I watched it and he said: ‘I thought I should have played every game.’ I was thinking number one, you weren’t even that good, and number two you are young, be humble.”

“What I would say is that he was very mentally strong. We had a lad called Anthony Elanga, I thought he was better, if he went at the right-back and lost the first three he wouldn’t do it again. He wouldn’t want to give the ball away. He is different now.”

“Garnacho had that mentality to just keep going, that’s his biggest strength and that is why every now and again he will do something unbelievable. He has massive belief in himself.”

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Garnacho made 144 appearances for United, scoring 26 goals during that period. He also provided 22 assists.

Featured image Julian Finney via Getty Images

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The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social