Man Utd drop Alejandro Garnacho price after shirt stunt and Ruben Amorim’s two-word threat

Ruben Amorim is understood to have had a fiery exchange with Alejandro Garnacho in front of the United players, in which the boss is understood to have told the 20-year-old he had “better pray” he can find a club willing to sign him

Alejandro Garnacho’s controversial decision to wear an Aston Villa shirt bearing Marcus Rashford’s name has reinforced Manchester United’s desire to sell him.

While United have not commented publicly on Garnacho’s contentious move, which saw him post on social media a picture of him in the shirt, sources say the stunt has only served to redouble the club’s efforts to offload the winger.

United want around £60million for Garnacho, but there is an acceptance that the public nature of his fall-out with Amorim, coupled with the knowledge that other clubs know the Old Trafford hierarchy want rid of him, means it is unlikely that valuation will be met.

A more realistic fee for United to accept would be around £40m, which would count as pure profit against the backdrop of profit and sustainability rules, given his status as an academy graduate, having joined the club’s youth system from Atletico Madrid in 2020 as a 15-year-old.

The same is also true of Rashford, who United are trying to offload for a similar fee, but his £300,000-a-week salary means another loan move – he spent the second half of last season on loan move – is the most likely scenario, unless he is prepared to take a pay cut.

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United are also trying to offload two further outcasts in Jadon Sancho and Antony, although they are likely to have to compromise on the fees they can expect to receive for both players or see both players go out on loan again, just as they did last season.

Garnacho fell out of favour with United boss Ruben Amorim in December and at the end of last season, when he was left out of the starting line-up for their 1-0 Europa League final defeat to Tottenham in Bilbao.

Argentina star Garnacho publicly criticised Amorim’s decision to omit him from the starting line-up in the wake of the defeat, which saw United miss out on European football for only the second time in 35 years.

Amorim is understood to have had a fiery exchange with Garnacho in front of the United players, in which the Portuguese head coach is understood to have told the 20-year-old he had “better pray” he can find a club willing to sign him.

That was the day before United’s final game of the season, a 2-0 home win over Aston Villa, for which Garnacho was axed, prompting his partner, Eva Garcia, to post a cryptic message on Instagram, suggesting his Old Trafford career was over.

In an Instagram story, Garcia posted a picture of their son’s United kit, accompanied by the message: “Last match”, which was widely interpreted as confirming Garnacho is on his way this summer.

Garnacho and Rashford were dropped from United’s squad for their 2-1 win at Manchester City last December, but while the former worked his way back into Amorim’s plans for the remainder of the season, there was no way back for the latter, who was shipped out on loan to Villa.

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