Alejandro Garnacho’s agent Enrique de Lucas strongly insists that the young Manchester United player will represent Argentina at the international level instead of Spain, expressing dissatisfaction with the Royal Spanish Football Federation.
Despite previously representing Spain at the Under-18 level, Garnacho switched to play for Argentina’s Under-20 team due to family connections and made his debut for them in March 2022.
Born in Madrid, Garnacho was later invited to join the Argentina senior squad and had the opportunity to train with Lionel Messi but did not make his debut, leaving open the possibility of playing for Spain.
Although Garnacho was included in Erik Ten Hag’s United squad ahead of the World Cup, there was a slim chance of him making Argentina’s World Cup squad. However, manager Lionel Scaloni decided not to include the young player.
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As Garnacho has not yet made his international debut at the senior level, Spain still has the opportunity to persuade him to play for his country of origin.
Nevertheless, De Lucas has criticized the Spanish Federation for their handling of the situation and asserts that his client only has aspirations to play for the reigning 2022 World Cup champions, Argentina.
As reported by the Manchester Evening News, he said:
“I think that Spain is a closed issue and there is no hiding it. [It is] very bad management by the Spanish Federation, I don’t know who, or I can guess who, but very bad management or very bad politics.”
“And I think Garna is not going to be the only case in which a player with dual nationality could lose, I honestly tell you. And he decides to go with Argentina because he really feels it. For him, it has not been a trauma at all, quite the contrary.”
“When that possibility opens up for him, imagine being able to play with a team like Argentina, all his maternal family, his grandparents, he has felt them since he was little and for him, it’s not a problem, it’s a blessing.”
Recently, United refused to release Garnacho for the Under-20 World Cup, as Argentina wanted him to participate in the tournament.
Ten Hag wanted to keep the player for the Premier League’s final stages and the upcoming FA Cup final against Manchester City at Wembley next month.
Garnacho made his comeback from injury in United’s recent 2-0 victory over Wolves, scoring the second goal. He hopes to earn a starting position when they face Bournemouth on Saturday.
