Ruben Amorim admits he ‘doesn’t know what will happen’ with Alejandro Garnacho after the Manchester United winger publicly questioned his decision not to start him in the Europa League final against Tottenham.
Garnacho was named among the subs on Wednesday night with Mason Mount selected ahead of him in the starting XI. The Argentina international came off the bench with 20 minutes, immediately testing Spurs goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario.
The winger was unable to drag his side back into the game and vented his frustration over not starting the game post-match.
Speaking to the Argentine press, he said: ‘There were a lot of things missing – when you don’t score goals, you always need more at the end,’ Garnacho told the Argentine media after the game. ‘I played every round until we reached the final, I helped the team, and to play twenty minutes today… I don’t know.’
His brother, Roberto Garnacho, also blasted the United boss with a post on Instagram, accusing Amorim of ‘throwing him under the bus’.
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United will end what has been a catastrophic season at home to Aston Villa on Sunday ahead of a pivotal summer.
Having already been strongly linked with a move away from Old Trafford this year, Garnacho’s future has been thrown into further doubt following his comments midweek.
In an already tumultuous week, Bruno Fernandes’ future at the club has also come under scrutiny. Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal are ready to offer up to £100m for the United captain and offer him a lucrative three-year contract worth £700,000-a-week and up to £65m per season once signing-on fees and bonuses are included.
With a huge summer ahead, Amorim insisted his focus is solely on Villa for the time being.
‘I always speak to my players, but the focus now is on the last game,’ Amorim said in his pre-match press conference on Friday when quizzed on Garnacho’s comments.
‘I don’t know what is going to happen. We have a plan and we prepared for both situations, with Champions League and without.
‘We have an idea what type of squad we want, but now we have to focus on the last game and we will have time address all of those situations.”
Asked whether the Europa League final had changed his opinion on some players, Amorim responded: ‘No, what changes is one less competition, that game in the middle of the week.
‘You can manage the squad in a different way, so that rotation of the players, the depth of the squad, that changes completely if you have three or four competitions.
‘That changes a little bit the plan, but not the way I look at my players just by looking at the final.’