Manchester United’s severe lack of firepower up front has prompted fans to call for a complete revamp in the attacking department.
As it stands, Ruben Amorim is navigating the second half of the campaign with only three out-and-out forwards at his disposal in the form of Alejandro Garnacho, Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee.
Amad Diallo has sustained a season-ending injury to his ankle, while Antony, Ethan Wheatley and Marcus Rashford were shipped out on loan in the winter window, the latter of which made his full Aston Villa debut last night in the side’s 2-2 draw with Liverpool.
Following a prolific start to the season, Garnacho’s form has now turned stagnant; he hasn’t found the back of the net since November and is yet to score under Ruben Amorim in the Premier League. Additionally, his conversion rate leaves much to be desired.
Alejandro Garnacho has the worst big chance conversion rate of players to have at least 10 big chances in the Premier League this season (2/14 – 14.3%). pic.twitter.com/TkU6Akgleh
— utdreport (@utdreport) February 16, 2025
That’s not to say he hasn’t stepped up to the mark on other occasions, though. The 20-year-old boasts eight goals and six assists in 2024/2025 thus far, leading to him being hailed as United’s most ‘impactful’ winger earlier in the term – albeit prior to Amad being granted his deserved starting role.
Ferdinand: Garnacho shouldn’t be sold under any circumstances
Amid calls from supporters for the club to cash in on their academy graduate, Rio Ferdinand has rallied behind Garnacho, singling him out for praise amidst a turbulent year at Old Trafford.
“Well, you look at the front line, you’ve got Hojlund, Zirkzee, and Garnacho right now, who are the three fit strikers that we’ve got. There’s eight goals between them,” said Ferdinand.
“Now, we’ve gone past halfway in the season, we’re going to the final stretch of the season, they’ve got eight goals between our attacking players. So, when you look at it like that, where are the goals going to come from? And then you think, oh, do we need to get Bruno a bit higher?
“With Garnacho, it’s weird, isn’t it? You see people saying, ‘You’ve got to let him go. He’s going to generate the money’. He’s our only threat. He’s our only real threat, who runs at people, who takes the ball. I said this on the show last week: he’s the only one with the balls who goes, ‘You know what, give me the ball’.
“His finishing might not be clean, his final pass might not be as clean as it might be in two or three years with development, but he’s the only one you can go, ‘you know what, he’s always running in behind, he’s always looking to hurt the opponents’, and he doesn’t look scared.”
Why has he gone backwards in development? Don’t ask the Manager, his ego is too big to tell you the truth. Formation, roles and opportunities are at the root of Garnacho’s problems. They are starving his youthful enthusiasm his energy and desire, he is a shadow of the player we saw before Amorim came in, is it not a coincidence?
Selling the talent we’ve got like Garnacho and Mainoo just because they generate pure profit is ridiculous and doesn’t guarantee we will sign ideal replacements as we probably won’t be in EUROPE next season
We will see soon enough,well hopefully that the under 21s and under 18s players training under Reubens philosophy,and see them come through,the talent is there.Give youth a chance.These players in the 21s and 18s are as talented as the 92 youngsters.