Bruno Fernandes has been delighted by Alejandro Garnacho’s progress but warned the Manchester United teenager that he cannot relax if he is going to fulfil his potential.
A year and two days after his starring role in the club’s FA Cup Youth Cup triumph against Nottingham Forest, the 18-year-old was once again in goalscoring form at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Garnacho had been out for two months with an ankle injury and he returned with a bang against Wolves, with the substitute scoring a fine, late goal in front of the Stretford End to wrap up a 2-0 win.
Skipper Fernandes threaded through the Argentinian to score and hopes the nascent talent can “score much more until the end of the season.”
“Obviously, we know Garna can change games,” the Portugal midfielder said. “He plays with pace, he can take players one against one.
“But he’s still developing himself, so we don’t have to go and push so much to him because he’s still a young kid.
“He can do great things, but in the future he has to do much better than actually he is doing because he has more than the capability to be even better than he is actually (right now).
“He’s been doing amazing for the first season he’s been playing in the Premier League, with more minutes, with more consistency. He’s doing great, but we all know he can do much more for us.”
Garnacho recently signed a new deal keeping him at Old Trafford until 2028 after impressing in his first full season as a first-team player.
He has also won around Erik ten Hag having irked him during pre-season, with Fernandes claiming he “didn’t have the best attitude” during that period.
“That message was from the manager, it was not from me,” Fernandes said. “I just heard what the manager said.
“What I have to say to Garnacho, I tell him at the training ground, whenever we are eating, on the training ground or wherever.
“If he wants to hear, he hears. If not, he doesn’t but I try to help.
“I think he did an interview talking about me trying to help him a lot of times, and that’s what I’m trying to do.
“But, obviously, as I said, he’s still young, and I don’t want to give too much compliments because you know when you’re young, you get too many compliments, you can get a little bit relaxed and everything.
“We need this Alejandro coming on and making goals, making assists, getting back to recover balls – everything.
“But I think if he wasn’t doing what he needed to do, he wouldn’t be playing.
“At the beginning of the season, the manager didn’t give him any chances because he thought that he wasn’t being the best, and now he’s getting his chances.
“He’s been playing a lot this season because he’s training well, he’s doing what he has to do and he’s getting his rewards – and the team are getting the rewards as well, and that’s the most important thing.”
Garnacho’s adaptation from youth football to the top end has also impressed Fernandes, saying his team-mate is reaping the rewards of his hard work.
“I think he’s doing very well and he’s training every time with us, so that makes him be more prepared for the games,” he said. “But mentally he’s being much better also because I think he understood what it takes to be a professional player.
“He is doing that, taking that and he is working a lot also in the gym with the coaches, so he is getting his rewards.
“He’s getting his rewards because he is training well because if he wasn’t he is not even playing I’m pretty sure.”
Garnacho’s return is a welcome boost for United with three Premier League games left in the race for the top four before the FA Cup final against Manchester City.
“We know it will be tough to get the top four but it depends on ourselves and everything is in our hands so we have to do our job,” Fernandes added.
“I’m not worried about Liverpool – I’m worried about us doing our job because it’s about ourselves.
“Like I said, if we do our job properly, if we win our games, we will be in the Champions League so we don’t need to look at the table or look at other teams.”
Arteta confirms Arsenal captain Odegaard out 'for a while' with ankle injury
Mikel Arteta confirmed Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard will be out "for a while" after suffering a significant ankle injury while playing for Norway.
The 25-year-old hobbled off during his country's Nations League 2-1 win over Austria in Oslo on September 9 and returned to London on crutches.
Odegaard missed Sunday's 1-0 derby victory against Tottenham and Arteta revealed the bad news on the midfielder ahead of Arsenal's opening Champions League game away to Atalanta.
"The scans showed that he's got some damage especially on one of the ligaments in the ankle," the Arsenal manager said on Wednesday.
"It's something quite significant so we're going to lose him for a while."
Arteta, whose side are second in the league and two points behind Manchester City, said he hoped it would not be months "but let's see".
Odegaard has become a key player for Arsenal, missing only a handful of games over the last three seasons, and a lengthy absence will come as a huge blow.
"He's our captain. He's been one of the biggest and best players in our team," continued Arteta.
"Our identity is very linked to how he plays and behaves. It's a big test for the team to see how able we are to show a different face."
Norway coach Stale Solbakken told VG newspaper he had been fully updated about the injury and was "preparing for a life without Martin".
"We have to take it week by week and day by day. Some types of damage go faster and some go slower," he said.
Man City 0-0 Inter: Guardiola's men frustrated in repeat of 2023 final
Manchester City's bid for a second Champions League crown got off to a frustrating start as they were held to a goalless draw by Inter in a repeat of the 2023 final.
Both teams squandered numerous chances in a breathless back-and-forth affair at the Etihad Stadium, with Inter defending resolutely before threatening to hit Pep Guardiola's hosts on the break on numerous occasions.
City's goal machine Erling Haaland was hoping to become the fastest player in history to score 100 goals for a European club, but he saw a header held by Yann Sommer early on before rolling another effort narrowly wide of the post.
Marcus Thuram flashed a first-time shot over the crossbar as Simone Inzaghi's men fired a warning shot of their own, while another Sommer save prevented Phil Foden from capping a delightful City move with a goal.
Inter's clearest opening came in the 53rd minute, but former Manchester United defender Matteo Darmian inexplicably tried to find a team-mate with a backheel when presented with a clear sight of Ederson's goal.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan had City fans breathing a huge sigh of relief when he missed another golden late opportunity, sending a wild effort spinning over the crossbar from 10 yards out.
But the last chances went City's way, Ilkay Gundogan eliciting huge groans from the home fans with two misses from short-range headers in the dying seconds.
Data Debrief: Inter make a statement
City are always favourites on their own turf, but Inter were expected to put up a fight on Wednesday and they did precisely that, marking themselves out as potential challengers for the European crown.
It was just the second time City had failed to find the net in 42 home Champions League matches under Guardiola, with the other being a goalless draw with Sporting CP in 2022.
Alessandro Bastoni, Francesco Acerbi and Yann Bisseck impressed in the heart of defence, limiting Haaland to the fewest touches (14) of any starter on either team.
The Nerazzurri also offered a threat going forward, with their 10 first-half attempts making them the first Champions League visitors to reach double figures at the Etihad since Monaco in February 2017 (also 10).
Club Brugge 0-3 Borussia Dortmund: Gittens net twice as last season's finalists open with win
Jamie Gittens scored twice as Borussia Dortmund opened their Champions League campaign with a 3-0 victory away at Club Brugge.
Serhou Guirassy added a late penalty for last season's finalists, who netted three times in the final quarter of an hour at Jan Breydelstadion.
Brugge carried the greater attacking threat for most of the contest, going closest to scoring when Hugo Vetlesen rattled the crossbar, but they were made to pay for their profligacy.
Gittens entered the action as a 68th-minute substitute and broke the deadlock eight minutes later—albeit in fortuitous circumstances—with his shot taking two deflections before nestling in the top-left corner.
The 20-year-old doubled his and Dortmund's tally with four minutes remaining, cutting inside before firing past Simon Mignolet in the Brugge goal.
Guirassy added further gloss to the scoreline from the penalty spot deep into stoppage time, slotting home from 12 yards after he was fouled by Brandon Mechele.
Data Debrief: Super sub Gittens stars in historic win
Keeping Brugge at bay, Dortmund became the first team in Champions League history to play a single opponent five times without conceding a goal.
Gittens got the ball rolling at the other end. At 20 years and 41 days old, he is the second-youngest player to score two or more goals as a substitute in a Champions League game, older than only Monaco's David Trezeguet, who was just 34 days younger when he struck against K. Lierse SK in October 1997.
Guirassy completed the victory from the spot, meaning Dortmund have now converted each of their last six Champions League penalties, last failing from 12 yards against Barcelona in September 2019 through Marco Reus.
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