Alejandro Garnacho is already playing catch-up at Aston Villa – if his chance does not come at Coventry tonight, the ex-Man United man may wonder when it will, writes TOM COLLOMOSSE
Since joining Aston Villa, Alejandro Garnacho has played only 31 competitive minutes and received a flea in his ear from his manager. As first impressions go, it has been far from ideal.
Garnacho is not the only Villa player to be told off in public by Unai Emery this season for dawdling on the touchline before being introduced as a substitute.
Yet even though we are still in mid-September, it feels like the 22-year-old is already playing catch-up. He was not helped by a facial injury sustained in pre-season which meant Villa did not pick him for the UEFA Super Cup in mind-August.
With Emery expected to rotate his squad for Wednesday’s Carabao Cup tie at Coventry, Garnacho will expect to be involved.
Garnacho’s loan will become a £43million transfer next summer if he hits what Chelsea claim are ‘easily achievable’ targets at Villa. All sorted, then? Not quite.
Alejandro Garnacho will be desperate to start his first game against Coventry on Wednesday
Difficulties settling in
Not many attackers join Villa and start playing regularly straightaway. Morgan Rogers managed it and so has Nicolas Jackson, but Emery has worked with Jackson before and when the Villa boss saw Rogers in the Middlesbrough team in January 2024, it was love at first sight.
Rogers joined Villa for about £10m and never looked back. Now he has gone to Chelsea for £117m. Few absorb Emery’s instructions as quickly as he did.
‘It’s a demanding style and very unique system,’ said captain John McGinn. ‘A lot of work in the classroom.
‘It does take time. It’s not just a case of your normal 4-4-2 or your normal 4-2-3-1. It’s the detail but it’s different. It’s like me going to play international football – it’s a different kind of football. You just need to adapt and hopefully over time we start to grow.’
Emery’s decision to stick to who he knows has not worked this season. Of the new signings, only Jackson, goalkeeper Zion Suzuki and midfielder Joao Gomes have earned his trust, with Ibrahim Mbaye, Matteo Ruggeri and Taylor Harwood-Bellis also looking to make their mark along with Garnacho. Johan Manzambi has only just returned from injury and Leon Goretzka is sidelined with a knee problem.
Garnacho has managed just 31 competitive minutes since joining Villa in the summer
The ghost of Harvey Elliott
Villa might not like to hear it, but loans can be complicated. Last September the club brought in Harvey Elliott from Liverpool on an initial loan deal, which would have become a £35m transfer had the midfielder played at least 10 times.
Elliott made nine appearances across the season, with Emery deciding last November that he did not want him. That left Elliott in limbo for the rest of the campaign with Villa paying a significant salary contribution for a player they knew would rarely feature.
While Garnacho is not at that stage yet, the Coventry match feels big for him. As things stand, it is difficult to imagine the Argentine starting at Tottenham in the Premier League on Saturday.
If he is given a chance at Coventry and takes it, however, at least Garnacho will give Emery something to think about. ‘His attitude his positive,’ said Emery. ‘That is very important.
‘Now he needs time, and hard work every day, which is showing in his attitude. He has played a few minutes and it was not enough – first, the minutes he played and second, the things he showed.
‘But progressively I am seeing him better. The most important thing is to be consistent and demanding in his attitude, and then I believe he will gradually really his best performance.’
Garnacho’s situation feels fairly similar to that of Harvey Elliott’s at the club last year
Competition for places
The problem for Garnacho is that the battle for spots out wide is fierce. George Hemmings has emerged from Villa’s youth ranks and immediately made an impression on Emery, starting every game so far.
Mbaye may be only 18 but he has not moved for £50m to swap the Paris Saint-Germain bench for the Villa one, while McGinn is not going anywhere either.
Alysson has looked impressive when given the chance this term, and scored Villa’s first league goal of the season. When Manzambi is fully fit, he will probably play as a No10, with Buendia moving back to the wing. So when does Garnacho get his chance?
‘We want to see him at the same level he was at in the first part of the season last year at Chelsea, and before that at Manchester United,’ Emery stressed. ‘He has this challenge, and it’s my challenge to help him achieve it.
‘He needed time to adapt to us and to get his fitness, and there is still work to do. But we have signed him for a long time and we will help him feel comfortable with us, feel confident with us and to exploit his qualities in our tactical structure.’
Garnacho’s best years were 2023-25, when he scored 20 goals and had 17 assists for Manchester United. Find that form again, and the permanent move to Villa becomes a formality. First, Garnacho needs consistent playing time. If that opportunity does not come at Coventry on Wednesday, those around Garnacho may start to wonder when it will.
