Alejandro Garnacho has no regrets about how his exit from Manchester United turned out after securing a £40m move to Chelsea in the summer window. The 21-year-old winger left Old Trafford in August, also with ambitions to secure more consistent playing time, following a public spat with United manager Ruben Amorim. When asked before Chelsea’s Champions League clash with Atalanta on Monday night if he had any regrets about the circumstances of his departure from United, he answered bluntly: “No.”
Bayern Munich had approached Garnacho and Chelsea were also eyeing the Argentine, but Garnacho was determined to remain in the Premier League and said the move to Stamford Bridge was an “easy decision”. “I wanted to stay in the Premier League because I think it’s the best league in the world,” Garnacho explained. “Before I came here, I talked to the director (Enzo Maresca) and he explained the project to me and he convinced me, so I’m really happy to be here.
“Sometimes in life you have to change things to move forward or improve as a player. I think it was the right time and the right club, so it was an easy decision.”
Since bringing Garnacho into the squad, Enzo Maresca has admitted that the winger has a lot of room to develop, both in and out of possession. Maresca is known as a strict manager, but Garnacho has embraced the opportunity to work under the Chelsea manager and recognizes the need to improve his defensive contribution.
“In today’s modern soccer, defense is an important part of the game, because all the teams we play against are strong and we all have to defend,” Garnacho explained.
“I know that if I want to play I have to defend, he (Maresca) told me that. So I try to do the job he asks me to do and when it comes to the ball, he tells me to take the ball and recover if I lose it. So I have to help the team defensively, but that’s part of football.”
Chelsea will face Atalanta in the Champions League for the sixth time this season. The Blues currently sit in seventh place and will be aiming for an important win to boost their chances of automatic qualification through a top-eight finish.
