Man United star withdraws from international duty with knee problem

Manchester United star Alejandro Garnacho has pulled out of the Argentina squad for the upcoming international break with a knee complaint.

The winger featured in the Red Devils’ goalless draw with Aston Villa on Sunday and, like most of his attacking counterparts, had a quiet afternoon, testing Emiliano Martinez once in the first-half with a strike to the near post.

With four goals and three assists in his opening 11 matches, Garnacho has made a solid start to the season and will be looking to take this form into the weeks ahead as United desperately attempt to turn their campaign around.

He was due to meet up with his La Selección teammates this week ahead of World Cup qualifiers against Venezuela and Bolivia. In the last international break, he played just 11 minutes in blue and white yet he made an impact, assisting Paulo Dybala in a 3-0 drubbing of Chile.

But Garnacho will be staying in the UK this time around as he continues to struggle with a knee injury, MEN reports.

The problem is thought to be one that the forward has been managing for a week or so, hence his benching against Porto in the Europa League, and his withdrawal from the national side is believed to be merely a precaution.

Yesterday, Garnacho played the full 90 minutes against Villa and could be seen sporting strapping around his left knee. 

The forward is likely to be available for United’s first match after the international break, against Brentford, but the club will be monitoring the star. 

The 20-year-old’s setback provides another blow for beleagured boss Erik ten Hag as the manager seems to inch closer to the Old Trafford door after a woeful start to the campaign.

The 13-time Premier League champions currently languish 14th in the table on just eight points from seven matches – their worst ever start in the competition.

This afternoon, Sir Jim Ratcliffe gathered United bosses, as well as former player Gary Neville, at Old Trafford and Carrington for talks, with the Dutchman’s future as manager high on the agenda.

The talks come ahead of Tuesday’s scheduled board meeting in London. The club must decide whether to stand by Ten Hag or take advantage of the international break by changing manager.  

Discussions over Ten Hag’s future continued into Monday and it will be on the agenda again when co-chairman Joel Glazer, chief operating officer Collette Roche and chief financial officer Roger Bell join them for the executive committee meeting on Tuesday.

United are wary of fuelling speculation over Ten Hag’s future after Thomas Tuchel and Simone Inzaghi were linked with the job if he is sacked after two-and-a-half years in charge at Old Trafford.

Ratcliffe is known to be an admirer of Tuchel and met the German coach in Monaco during the summer when Ten Hag’s future was in doubt before the FA Cup final.

Tuchel is still available but it’s unclear if the obstacles that prevented him from replacing Ten Hag then can be overcome now.  

Money was said to be one of them. It’s understood there has been no new contact between United and his representatives at this stage.