Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has confirmed Alejandro Garnacho is close to being fit again and available for selection.
The Argentinian winger has been missing since he sustained an ankle injury in United’s 1-1 draw with Southampton at Old Trafford last month.
He has so far missed nine games in the last six weeks, but last week posted a picture at the club’s Carrington training ground showing him wearing a pair of football boots, with the message, “Back with the boots.”
At a press conference on Wednesday ahead of United’s Premier League game against Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday Ten Hag said, “Garnacho is back on the pitch but he's not ready for the game tomorrow.”
There remains a chance he could be fit enough to be given a place on the substitutes bench for United’s following game against Aston Villa at Old Trafford on Sunday.
This has been Garnacho’s breakthrough season in the first team and before his injury he had made 29 appearances in all competitions, scoring four goals and providing five assists.
There remains some confusion, however, about whether Garnacho will play for Argentina at the forthcoming FIFA U-20 World Cup.
The tournament is being hosted in Argentina, and the country’s U-20 side managed by the former Liverpool and Barcelona player Javier Mascherano want Garnacho to be a part of their squad.
But the tournament begins on May 20th before the English domestic season has finished, and if Garnacho plays it would mean he would miss at least three Premier League games and the FA Cup final against Manchester City on June 3rd.
There have been reports Garnacho has already asked to play in the tournament, but United, who don’t have to release him because it falls outside of an official FIFA international window, have not yet made a final decision.
For United’s game at Tottenham Ten Hag confirmed that Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane would be missing with injury, but Bruno Fernandes, who was substituted with a slight knock during United’s FA Cup semi-final win over Brighton and Hove Albion on Sunday had an outside chance of playing.
“Bruno, we have to wait,” Ten Hag said. “He had a big kick in the first half but he played the game, over 90 minutes, and even in extra-time. But then he went off. We've all seen. He's not excluded for tomorrow but he is a question mark.”
Tottenham lost 6-1 against Newcastle United in the Premier League on Sunday, but Ten Hag still expects to face an emboldened and dangerous opponent.
“Spurs had a really bad defeat and of course they are mad and that can be fuel for bouncing back,” he said. “But it is about us. An opponent can never be more hungry than we are. That is how we have to prepare for the game and we have to be ready to go on the front foot and be dominant and dictate the game.”
In the race for a top four place United are currently fourth, six points above sixth-placed Tottenham, and also have two games in hand over them. “You see the table, then it is quite clear,” said Ten Hag. “But our approach will not change.”