Should Tottenham be looking to sign Manchester United outcast Alejandro Garnacho? – Opinion

Highly regarded Manchester United academy graduate Alejandro Garnacho has been linked with a move away from Old Trafford given that he has reportedly fallen out with their new manager, Ruben Amorim, after the Argentine was benched for the Europa League finals against Tottenham Hotspur in the concluding weeks of last campaign, and now speculation has intensified around a summer exit. And there have been several Premier League clubs, with Chelsea and Aston Villa among the most notable, to express interest in securing his signature.

Daniel Levy has also put Tottenham Hotspur as a possible destination if the Argentine does end up leaving his current employers this summer.

The arrival of Thomas Frank at the helm at N17 shows that the North Londoners are now shifting towards a move to a system-first football which prioritises structured pressing complemented by bringing in a sense of balance between verticality and possession. Under the Dane, there will also be importance placed on how reliable the wide players are at N17 and Garnacho. While he has that young potential and that rawness about him, he may represent both a short- and long-term solution to the now-evolving left flank role at Hotspur Way.

Why should Tottenham be considering a move for Garnacho?

To start with, he is a vertical threat. He has the potential to be world-class, especially given how he belongs to a rare group of players under 21 in Europe who have elite numbers when it comes to their ball-carrying ability and that also not over a short distance but over medium-to-long distances. And this style of taking it on from the deep and straight into his marking full-back 1v1, while trying to break in behind, is something that the North Londoners have been lacking, especially since Son Heung-min is ageing and is now not quite as fast as he used to be.

At 20, the Argentine has already been playing in some of the most high-profile games in the English top tier, and if he were to play under the tutelage of Thomas Frank, who has a track record for developing players within a well-defined tactical system, we can see Garnacho go from being someone who produces flashes of genius to someone that can deliver a consistent end product.

How can Garnacho tactically fit into Thomas Frank’s playing style?

We are expecting Thomas Frank to play in the same way and system that he adapted at Brentford, and herein the wide players are expected to position themselves in the touchline-half-space area while receiving in transition and facilitating overlapping full-backs. Then they are also tasked with pressing up high. And if you think about it, Garnacho fits seamlessly into that.

The Argentine presses with an intensity that most of the Premier League wingers haven’t shown, and then he can invert into the shooting lanes quite often, which plays well into how Thomas Frank wants to play. He is also good at linking in transitional situations, given how he offers depth running that complements a more static #9 like Solanke.

If the North Londoners were to line up in a 4-3-3 or a 3-4-2-1 (both of which are widely expected under Frank), then the Argentine can play in that left wing role while stretching the play and also drifting on the inside to combine with the likes of Maddison and Bentancur. And his presence could also benefit the underlapping runs of the fullback on his flank (Udogie), as we have seen time and again at United.

Potential concerns of signing Garnacho

I do think that when it comes to the defensive side of things, Garnacho is still learning about the defensive shape and off-ball structure, and a lot of work and tactical adjustment would be required to make him operate in that manner. That being said, if we look at Frank’s record at Brentford, it does show that he can teach his attacking players how to defend and press as a unit.

There have been incidents of disagreement with Amorim which have been quite public, and this is a worry for me given that Tottenham are looking to build a tight-knit squad under Thomas Frank.

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Author Opinion

I don’t think that Garnacho qualifies as one of your safe bets, but then he is one of the world’s most explosive young forwards in world football at the moment, and if he is to play under someone like Thomas Frank, he may well go on to become a world-class winger at Tottenham.

I will say that if the Lilywhites can get him on a fee below the reported premium or in a transfer that is negotiated with postponed payments, then Levy should definitely be on it.