Manchester United star Fred has tipped team-mate Alejandro Garnacho to become "one of the best players in the world" after the teenager made another decisive impact on Wednesday night.
United were level with West Ham in their FA Cup fifth round clash when Garnacho popped up with a last-minute goal. Fred added a third deep into stoppage time to see Erik ten Hag's side through to the quarter-finals, where they will meet another Premier League opponent in the form of Fulham.
The result leaves Ten Hag's men in the running for multiple trophies after their victory in the Carabao Cup final. With a Europa League last-16 meeting with Real Betis on the horizon, as well as an outside shot of the Premier League title, Garnacho could have a big role to play in the coming months and beyond.
"Garnacho had a very good game today, a good score, and he had nice play," Fred told club media after his team's FA Cup win. "He's a young player. He will be one of the best players in the world, for sure. Today, he scored and played well and he needs to keep going.
“Always [I believed we’d win]," the former Shakhtar Donetsk man added. "We need to believe because we have a good team, good players, we have strong players up front but also at the back as well.
“We need to believe every game,” he added. “We conceded a goal today but we know we can score a goal because our [attack] is strong and we keep believing.”
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United boss Erik ten Hag opened up on his advice to Garnacho after the youngster broke West Ham's resistance. The goal was the 18-year-old's fourth this season, with all the efforts coming in wins.
"I saw today another step from him," the former Ajax boss revealed after trusting Garnacho to start just three days after leaving him on the bench for the Carabao Cup final. "I told him before the game, 'you have an impact when you come on, but now you need to have impact as a starter'. I think he's capable of it and that's the next step he needs to take.
"It's a great skill when you're fearless, when you're brave," the manager continued. "He's one of the players that I think has a skill that is so specific. There are not many players in world football who take players on, who are capable of just going at players and out-dribbling them.
"But he has more skill than that, for example, finishing. He also has a big engine. He's fast, he has speed and he can keep running for 90 minutes or 120 minutes."
