Still licking the wounds of a heartbreaking Europa League final defeat, Ruben Amorim and his Manchester United company must tackle a final Premier League challenge against Champions League-chasing Aston Villa.
However, keeping in tune with the regular soap opera of this once perennial powerhouse of English and continental football, headlines have veered away from the field.
Having informed the squad that he would remain in the North West for the foreseeable future, the former Sporting supremo advised Alejandro Garnacho to find a new club.
The Argentine youngster has enjoyed a season with double-digit returns in goals and assists. Yet, his questionable attitude has regularly surfaced, and the nature of his social media antics has offered little promise alongside his off-the-field entourage.
A particularly petulant post-match interview following his omission from the starting XI in Bilbao left a sour taste in the mouths of many, and that was the final straw for Amorim and an Ineos hierarchy with plans for widespread squad alterations in the summer.
Sources close to the Theatre of Red had previously advised of plans to offload the 20-year-old “if push came to shove”, with Shaun Connolly exclusively revealing intentions to prioritise a sale for Garnacho over Kobbie Mainoo to bolster squad advancement in mid-April.
We can now confirm that while Manchester officials had retained hopes of acquiring £55 to £60 million for the player in January, “talks will be entertained for less with a considerable sell-on fee.”
Additionally, Garnacho is not expected to have any squad involvement against Villa on Sunday. The club are working to part ways as soon as possible, with Carlos Cambeiro confident of a satisfactory outcome.
Manchester United Team News for Aston Villa
Aston Villa is a football club rejuvenated under Unai Emery, and the Birmingham outfit arrives in the North West locked in a five-way battle for the three remaining Champions League places.
The seven-time top-flight winners have earned eight points from their previous seven meetings with the Reds (W2, D2, L3) but haven’t gained maximum spoils at Old Trafford since September 2021.
They face a wounded Manchester United side still coming to terms with the ramifications of a 1-0 defeat in Bilbao.
Furthermore, when pressed about the availability of his players for Sunday’s 4:00 PM GMT fixture, Amorim confirmed he was dealing with “some situations”, hinting that Leny Yoro may not feature.
“There are some situations, like Leny. We have to be careful,” he told the media ahead of a final-day game at Old Trafford. “We had that in the last [home] game before the final, I think it was West Ham, on his foot.
“We’re going to take care of some situations so as not to compromise next season. The rest, we want to win the game, so we are going to put a squad together.”
Joshua Zirkzee and Diogo Dalot featured in San Mames, and Jonny Evans was part of the matchday squad, following a prolonged absence with injury.
However, Matthijs de Ligt remains uncertain. The Dutch international was unavailable for the Europa League outing and has been continuing his individual training following an unfortunate layoff.
Interestingly, only Arsenal (23) have won their final league game on more occasions than United (22). That said, the Reds possess the lowest loss percentage of any top-tier side throughout the previous 10 domestic campaigns (12.5%).
In contrast, when playing away from home, Villa managed a solitary victory in 26 attempts on the final day (D7, L18), a 3-1 win at Stamford Bridge in 2001-02.
Regardless of the result, Amorim’s men will end the season without back-to-back wins in 38 fixtures, equalling the torment of the 1893-94 and 1921-22 campaigns. This is a staggering statistic for any Red to stomach.
How are you feeling about the impending departure of Alejandro Garnacho and the future of Manchester United under Ruben Amorim?
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