Alejandro Garnacho has hardly set the world alight since joining Chelsea from Manchester United, but he’s shown glimpses of promise.
Joe Cole has warned Alejandro Garnacho that he could be sold by the next Chelsea manager. The 21-year-old winger, whom the Blues signed from Manchester United for £40million last summer, faces an uncertain future at Stamford Bridge after struggling to impress.
Garnacho, whose contract doesn’t expire until June 2032, has featured 41 times across all competitions this term, scoring eight goals and providing four assists. Although the Argentina international has fallen short of expectations, so have many of his teammates, with Chelsea in grave danger of failing to qualify for any of UEFA’s three club competitions.
When the west Londoners appoint a permanent successor to Liam Rosenior at the end of the season, Garnacho will hope to be given a clean slate. In an interview with Paddy Power, Cole offered the Argentine some advice.
“There’s always been signs he can be a top player,” said the former Chelsea midfielder. “With Alejandro, it can be the noise around him sometimes.
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“To be fair to him, there’s not been too much this season. But when there’s historic issues [with Manchester United], then as a player you have to really toe the line.
“There’s so much scope for him to become a better player, but he has to really believe in it and really want to do it and really get on the right track. It’s going to be down to him and the new manager.
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“When a new manager comes in, where does Garnacho stand in his thoughts?” added Cole. “If I was advising him, I’d say he needs to find a homeland where he’s going to be settled and happy.
“The Chelsea fans are a little bit disgruntled with him at the moment, and I agree that he hasn’t played well. But he’s not been dreadful; he’s just not at his best.”
Garnacho has been heavily scrutinised ever since he burst onto the scene. In a recent interview with Premier League Productions, the winger explained what it’s like to be exposed to such intense ridicule at a young age.
“I’m still very young, I’m a kid, I play football,” said Garnacho, who’s often singled out and booed by opposition supporters. “In this world, you play in front of a lot of people, that’s maybe why people can talk about you but I’m just a normal boy.”
When asked if he’s misunderstood, he replied: “Yes, I think people see for example, the player you are, but then after this, there’s a person there. A lot of people think things about me that are maybe not like this, and they don’t know me, but I know my family loves me and the people around me – that’s the most important thing.
“A lot of people in the world today, they can say anything about you. They think I’m totally different to what I am. Maybe they think I’m arrogant, or not humble, things like this. I’m just a normal guy. The people who I love, they love me, so that’s important.
“Everything you do; if you do your hair, or you [get] tattoos, everyone will know, everyone will speak and say good things and bad things. This is the world we live [in] and I want to live [in] because I love football.”
Garnacho added: “It’s hard sometimes but you have to know that life in football is like this. Everyone says good things about you all the time, it’s impossible, so you have to deal with this.
“You have to know when you do good things and bad things and then try to do your best and then people will talk about you how they want anyway.”
