Argentina winger Alejandro Garnacho has revealed the instinctual “moment” that he decided to pull off one of the most “difficult” feats in his Manchester United career.
Alejandro Garnacho rose through the Manchester United youth academy and the Spain-born attacker has established himself as a first-team mainstay.
The 20-year-old winger, who was signed from Atletico Madrid in 2020, was a preferred pick under former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag.
However, Erik ten Hag’s dismissal and Ruben Amorim’s arrival at Old Trafford have left Garnacho fighting for his place in the United starting XI.
Ruben Amorim sent a clear-cut message to Garnacho that he must improve after he dropped him out of the squad for the 2-1 win against Manchester City last weekend.
Garnacho has since returned to training and the Argentina international made a brief cameo after he came off the bench in the 4-3 defeat to Tottenham on Thursday.
The United star has made 25 appearances for the Red Devils in the 2024-25 campaign and Garnacho has netted eight times and picked up four assists so far.
Garnacho on his Man Utd moment
Manchester United star Alejandro Garnacho showed off his individual moments of brilliance during the 2023-24 campaign under Erik ten Hag.
Garnacho produced an exquisite overhead kick against Everton in a 3-0 Premier League win at Goodison Park in November 2023.
The United winger earned high praise for his incredible finish, including recently scooping the FIFA Puskas Award at the Best FIFA Football Awards 2024.
Speaking to FIFA’s official website after his Puskas Award win, Garnacho revealed the message he told himself before he scored his “perfect” bicycle kick.
“I know this goal perfectly now! I mean, it is the same technique more or less [as Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s]… but one is from a cross,” he said.
“It is difficult, you know? When the ball was in the air, I thought it was the moment to go for it.
“I had tried this technique so many times in training. I thought, ‘This is the time to do it, to see what happens.’ And I scored, so it was perfect!”
Garnacho’s reaction to Ibrahimovic’s overhead kick
Alejandro Garnacho followed in the same footsteps as former United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic with his Puskas Award win.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic produced a show-stealing performance for Sweden in a 4-2 win over England in 2012, including a sensational bicycle kick from 30 yards out.
The 43-year-old Swedish former striker’s overhead kick earned him the Puskas Award in 2013, with Garnacho simply blown away by what Ibrahimovic did.
Reacting to the bicycle kick, Garnacho said: “I like this one! An overhead kick also from, I don’t know, 30 yards!
“The power, because it is from a very long way, and the jump… Wow!”
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