Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has made it clear that Alejandro Garnacho must keep his feet on the ground despite his rising status at the Red Devils.
Garnacho has featured in four of United's last five games and notched two assists in the EFL Cup win over Aston Villa on Thursday. The 18-year-old appears to have broken into Ten Hag's plans, having been brought into the first-team fold by the Dutchman this term.
His performance in the win over Villa was his best display in a United shirt so far, despite only playing the final 28 minutes. During that time he delivered two crucial contributions, including a stunning cross to set Scott McTominay up to score.
Despite his rising status at Old Trafford though, the 18-year-old still does not have a place in the first-team dressing room at the club's Carrington training ground, according to the Daily Mail.
Instead, Ten Hag is looking to keep the Argentine's feet firmly on the ground amid his breakout season. The decision to continue to omit him from the first-team dressing room suggests that Ten Hag wants Garnacho to not let his performance levels drop.
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That is something the United boss reinforced following his side's win over Villa. Ten Hag insisted that the wonderkid would have to maintain his good attitude if he wants to keep being handed game time.
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"I think he has to keep his head clean, stay calm, work hard and develop, and go from game to game. When he keeps working, keeps this attitude, yes, then it is possible. If he keeps his attitude and works every day and doing the right things in his lifestyle, yeah then it is possible," Ten Hag said.
"Because, you see he has great capabilities what contributes to attacking football. And he has something that can break open a really compact defending line. And I think all teams that want to attack want to play in the opponents' half.
"You need players like them that can outplay them. And also, in the final decisions, he can do the right things. So once again, it depends on his attitude, can he do the defending stuff, the discipline? When he can do that, yeah it is possible.
"He is in good development, I’m quite sure, but he still has a lot to learn, like he has to pass the ball back, where he got injured and it was almost a counter against us. But he has capabilities that the fans like but also, more importantly, what contributes to compact opponents. He can outplay defending lines with a lot skills. That is what I like."
Garnacho will hope his performance against Villa has earnt him a recall to the starting line-up for the trip to Fulham on Sunday evening. The clash with the Cottagers will be United's final outing in the Premier League before the World Cup gets underway next week.
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