Garnacho remains the same, only good at 'tormenting' weaker opponents

10/11/2025 16:10:00 PlaymakerHub

Skepticism regarding Alejandro Garnacho’s capabilities at Chelsea is slowly disappearing. His two assists in the 3-0 win against Wolves demonstrate that the £40 million spent to acquire him from Man United was justified.

Since joining Stamford Bridge this summer, Garnacho has been experiencing some of the finest moments of his career. After preventing a shocking loss to Qarabag in Azerbaijan with a 2-2 equalizer, the Argentine forward played a key role in the goals by Malo Gusto and Pedro Neto during the Wolves match.

That match marked his first time providing two assists in a single Premier League game, coinciding with his 99th appearance in England’s top division. The victory over Wolves was also the first occasion the 21-year-old completed a full 90 minutes for Chelsea in the Premier League. In his previous four starts against Liverpool, Nottingham Forest, Sunderland, and Tottenham, he was substituted at various points.

Following a disappointing season at MU, Garnacho faced numerous doubts about his ability. He lacked preseason conditioning because his transfer to Chelsea was only finalized on the last day of the summer window. While waiting for the move, Chelsea coach Ruben Amorim relegated him to the reserve team.

Garnacho (right) requires more time to “transform” at Chelsea

His situation resembles that of Liverpool’s Alexander Isak, but Garnacho benefits from Enzo Maresca’s patience to help him gradually adapt to Chelsea’s squad. This is vital since few managers would trust a striker who neither scored nor assisted in his first six games for a new club like Garnacho did. Indeed, his 59-minute Chelsea debut against Lincoln in the League Cup was considered disastrous due to repeated turnovers and failure to register any shots on target, despite the opponent competing in England’s second tier.

According to Maresca, Garnacho’s diligence is the key to earning starting opportunities at Chelsea: “When Garnacho joined Chelsea, the message to him was to work hard. He performs well with the ball and is very hardworking without it. However, coming from MU, he was not in peak physical condition. Gradually, he has improved.”

Most importantly, the Italian coach has identified Garnacho’s ideal position as left forward. He and Jamie Bynoe-Gittens compete for a starting spot there, with Maresca rotating them each match to fairly evaluate their skills. Since the season started, Garnacho has only performed well against weaker teams like Sunderland, Qarabag, and Wolves. This could be a challenge if he aims to advance his career, as his goals last season at MU came against Southampton, Brentford, Leicester, and Newcastle.

Garnacho was uninspiring in the two recent big matches against Liverpool and Tottenham. Only by scoring in major games can he truly “transform” at Stamford Bridge.

Hanh Mai

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