Manchester United have tied down a number of players to one-year contract extensions already this season, including top scorer Marcus Rashford and 23-year-old right-back Diogo Dalot. David de Gea’s contract expiration date this summer is looming but the club are expected to agree fresh terms before it gets to that stage.
But Erik ten Hag may yet be about to land his biggest renewal elsewhere. The Dutchman is having to deal with the here and now as well as keeping one eye on the future and Alejandro Garnacho overlaps both.
Real Madrid have been linked with interest in the 18-year-old but the United hierarchy have never been fearful of an exit for the Argentine. It looks like a new deal is edging closer and could soon be over the line.
READ MORE: Roy Keane sets challenge for Garnacho
A new deal would be Ten Hag’s most important signing of 2023 so far. Garnacho is now considered a first-team regular having made his full debut in October in the Europa League. Nineteen outings later he has two goals and, perhaps more excitingly, five assists. His quick movement teed up Marcus Rashford to net the winner against Manchester City on derby day, showing he can turn up for the big occasion already.
Ten Hag won’t have liked some of his behaviour in pre-season but he wouldn’t have minded the bite Garnacho has about him. The teenager has shown a kind of fearlessness that has got club legends such as Paul Scholes calling him positively “dangerous” and Roy Keane “fantastic”. Rio Ferdinand backed up this assessment, saying he is impressed that “a player with his age has no fear and is not affected by reputations.”
Ten Hag doesn’t need telling how much of a talent he has on his hands, though. He’s been praised for the way he has used the starlet. Garnacho has seven goal contributions and six of them have come from 13 substitute appearances.
The talent has only seen out a full game once - against Charlton in the 3-0 League Cup quarter-final win. Garnacho, obviously, still has levels to go but he’s already doing the business now and Ten Hag is keen to lock him in for the years ahead as he attempts to future-proof his rebuild.
After netting his first senior goal in the 1-0 victory away at Real Sociedad, Garnacho - named United’s player of the month for November - said: “Right from the moment I arrived here, all the fans have accepted me really well.
“They have always got behind us, in the junior sides and now I’ve made it to here [the first team]. They’ve always supported us at every moment.” He can repay them by penning a new long-term contract.
His most exciting contribution could be his simplest - signing on that dotted line.
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