Alejandro Garnacho has been warned about his actions by the Argentina legend and believes big changes are needed if he wants to play in the 2026 World Cup.
Alejandro Garnacho has been warned he needs to tone down his arrogance if he wants to play for Argentina at the World Cup. Garnacho hasn’t been called up for the national team for almost a year, and his move to Chelsea hasn’t changed that yet.
The 21-year-old left Manchester United for the Blues for £40 million in the summer transfer window. Despite a slow start under manager Enzo Maresca, he scored his first goal for the club in just his seventh appearance at the weekend.
Garnacho left United after falling out with Ruben Amorim. He was furious at being left on the bench for the Europa League final and was subsequently told he was not part of Amorim’s plans for the 2025-26 season and was placed on the “bomb squad”.
He starred in a Chelsea shirt, scoring in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Sunderland, but has only made 331 appearances so far. Garnacho was convinced to join Chelsea after speaking with Maresca, but his bigger goal of playing for Argentina at the 2026 World Cup is still a long way off.
read more: Phil Foden reacts to sick troll’s ‘disturbing’ claims about his childrenread more: Chelsea pay tribute to phone conversation and January negotiations after busting £22m summer transfer fee
Argentine national team manager Lionel Scaloni has not appointed Garnacho after November 2024, but coach Oscar Ruggeri, who won 97 caps between 1983 and 1994, has given Garnacho some advice. “He’s not better than anyone else. You’re a football player, enjoy it. But you shouldn’t be full of yourself,” he told TNT Sports.
“There’s no point in missing out on so much. Someone has to bring him back down to earth. They haven’t called him up to the national team. If he comes back down to earth like he used to, they’ll call him up again because he’s phenomenal on the pitch.”
Ruggeri is well aware of the very high standards of the national team, which won the World Cup with La Albiceleste in 1986 and will defend its title next year in the United States, Canada and Mexico following their victory in Qatar.
Scaloni insisted this was simply due to a competition for places and Garnacho’s lack of consistency. The coach said in November last year, “Why didn’t Garnacho be called up? The reason he wasn’t selected was because of a problem with his form.” “We don’t like to bring players in and always take them out or take them out of the team.
“Everyone wants to be there and that’s great, but you have to make a decision because the human side plays. It would have been easy to bring him in, but the last few call-ups he hasn’t gotten the minutes and sometimes you have to make decisions, but he’s a player that’s on our radar and he’s going to stay there and he’s got a big future.”
Join our new WhatsApp community and receive Mirror Football content every day. Community members also receive special offers, promotions, and advertisements from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check it out whenever you like. If you are interested, please read our privacy notice.
Sky Sports Premier League and EFL package discounts
£49
£35
sky
Get the deal here
Sky has reduced the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle ahead of the 2025/26 season, saving members £336 on their bill and offering more than 1,400 live matches from Premier League, EFL and more.
Sky will broadcast at least 215 live Premier League matches next season, with an increase of up to 100 more.
