Manchester United starlet Alejandro Garnacho is enjoying a breakthrough season.

Manchester United star Alejandro Garnacho has been warned over his match minutes. (Image: Getty)

Manchester United youngster Alejandro Garnacho has been told he could struggle for first-team starts when Casemiro and Christian Eriksen return to the side. The 18-year-old is enjoying a break-out season at Old Trafford and netted against Leeds last weekend.

Garnacho has made 23 appearances in all competitions scoring four times and contributing a further six assists. Many of his minutes have come from the bench with Erik ten Hag utilising him as a dangerous impact option.

His goals in the Premier League have come at crucial moments with his first against Fulham proving to be the winner in injury time while his second against Leeds on Sunday sealed the 2-0 win for the Red Devils.

However, former United icon Louis Saha has warned that he will find starts hard to come by when Casemiro and Eriksen return despite his impressive displays, suggesting he must do more to continue to be called upon in the long term.

“Alejandro Garnacho is a very exciting player,” the Frenchman told Paddy Power. “He has shown this season that he can be an impact player but at the same time, he can improve and be a starter. He has to learn a bit of tactical awareness and how to get the goals and assists.

“He will have to wait a bit because the team is full of quality. Going forward, there are a lot of players who can create and score goals. It’s not like United of a few years ago where there was a young Rashford and others where the quality wasn’t of the highest level. That’s not the case anymore and he [Garnacho] will need to learn and not expect to play every weekend.

“At the moment, I don’t see him getting into the starting lineup. When Christian Eriksen and Casemiro are back fit, there are some quality international players on the bench and he’s only 18 years old. So, he can’t have guarantees – it’s not a small club here.

Alejandro Garnacho scored for Manchester United against Leeds on Sunday. (Image: GETTY)

“If he thinks he deserves to play because of his talent, he’s wrong. Talent is not enough. Enough means that every time you play, you score or assist. He can’t expect anything right now. He’s only scored a few goals – which is good – but that’s nowhere near enough asking to be involved every week.”

Garnacho is set to be involved for United again on Thursday when the Red Devils take on Barcelona in the Europa League. With Anthony Martial, Antony and Eriksen all suffering from injuries he will be in contention for a start however may heed Saha’s warning if he wants to continue starting in the long term.

source: www.express.co.uk/