Nicky Butt has warned Alejandro Garnacho that he would have been kicked up in the air by the Manchester United squad had they played together at the same time. The former United midfielder criticised the winger's attitude, which has often drawn fire from fans and pundits alike.
Butt's blunt assessment
Speaking on The Good, The Bad and The Football podcast, Butt said: "Forget his ability, I don't think he is that great anyway, but his attitude was a disgrace at Man United. He would have got treated really badly, he would've got taken out in training, if he was brought up with us."
Butt, who served as academy manager during Garnacho's early days at Old Trafford, recalled: "When he signed at 16, I was academy manager. Garnacho was always a bit stand-offish, always thought he should be playing. He had a high opinion of himself; I just thought he had an edge about him. When he got into Man United's first team, and I will say what I think. He got above his station way too quickly."
Butt added: "Now, I hope young players get paid millions. I'm not one that says they get too much money. He scored the bicycle kick, which was phenomenal, and went like that [points up]. Somebody at that club should have swatted him down; maybe he ignored them. The best thing Man United did was sell him."
Parallels with Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo, Garnacho's idol, experienced similar treatment at Old Trafford, which left him in tears as a teenager. Rio Ferdinand previously claimed he helped build Ronaldo's resilience by "borderline bullying" him. Ferdinand told the Kyle and Jackie O radio show: "Me and a guy called Quinton Fortune - another team-mate - we used to take the mick out of him a lot. He was a lot younger than us at the time - borderline bullying, maybe, but it was just trying to, like, build him, build that resilience."
Ferdinand continued: "We used to play every other day before training, as part of the warm-up. I used to smash him all over the place. He did beat me, it was me and him, [ranked] one and two, like [Roger] Federer and [Rafael] Nadal. If it was televised, it would have broken records. He used to, like, almost cry and that, he was so competitive."
Garnacho's Chelsea struggles
Chelsea signed the Argentine for £40 million last summer, but he has endured a disappointing maiden season. The winger has failed to replicate the form that made him a fan favourite at Old Trafford, and his attitude has continued to attract scrutiny.
