Alejandro Garnacho (£6.0m) has joined Aston Villa after the club agreed an initial season-long loan move from Chelsea.
So what sort of player is the Argentinian winger, and could he trouble 2026/27 Fantasy Premier League (FPL) teams?
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CAREER SO FAR
It is fair to say that Garnacho has yet to fulfil the promise that encouraged Manchester United to take him from Atletico Madrid in 2020 when he was 16, or indeed that prompted Chelsea to swoop for him last August.
His best season to date remains the 2023/24 campaign when he produced seven goals and seven assists in 30 starts, returning 131 points in total.
His numbers have dwindled since then, as the table below shows, but you get the impression that his failings are perhaps more down to attitude than aptitude.
| Season | Starts | Goals | Assists | Successful dribbles | Chances created | Shots | FPL points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025/26 (Chelsea) | 14 | 1 | 4 | 14 | 29 | 8 | 56 |
| 2024/25 (Man Utd) | 23 | 6 | 4 | 26 | 37 | 84 | 106 |
| 2023/24 (Man Utd) | 30 | 7 | 7 | 48 | 46 | 100 | 131 |
| 2022/23 (Man Utd) | 5 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 3 | 24 | 39 |
| 2021/22 (Man Utd) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Garnacho has quality on the ball. Last season, although he only made 14 starts, he averaged more carries per game than any other player for either Aston Villa or Chelsea (11.9), and led the way in chances created from those runs (1.35).
He still managed four assists despite his limited game time, and his rate of creating a chance every 45 minutes placed him 16th among all midfielders in the game (min 1000 mins).
GARNACHO’S STRUGGLES
You could argue that had Garnacho played more, he would have produced more. So why didn’t he? It is true that competition for places in Chelsea’s bloated squad was high, but they did not exactly pull up any trees last season.
By his own admission, Garnacho has not always been a model professional. In his last few months at Manchester United, he said he “did bad things”, and Chelsea’s new head coach Xavi Alonso agreed to allow Garnacho to stay away from Cobham and find himself a new club as he wanted to “change the culture” at Stamford Bridge.
The 22-year-old’s development has not exactly been helped by managerial instability at his previous two clubs. At United, he went through Ralf Rangnick, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Erik ten Hag and Ruben Amorim, with whom he was not the only player to fall out, and in just one season Chelsea burnt through Enzo Maresca, Liam Rosenior and Calum McFarlane.
IN QUOTES
At Villa, at least, one can safely assume that Garnacho will find stability at the top. And crucially, he has been recruited by a manager who rates him. Unai Emery wanted to bring him to Villa Park last summer only for financial constraints to prevent him from getting his man; the Spaniard is convinced he can bring the best out of the South American.
“We are so happy with Alejandro. He is so talented, young, and he showed us his wish to help our project. We are very happy.” – Unai Emery on Alejandro Garnacho
Garnacho, meanwhile, has been won over both by Emery’s pursuit of him as well as the prospect of Champions League football.
“I think I was looking for a club that I could get confidence and help me try to be the player I was years ago from my first years (at Manchester United).” – Alejandro Garnacho on joining Aston Villa
FPL PROSPECTS
Having sold Morgan Rogers (£7.5m) to Chelsea and Youri Tielemans (£6.0m) to Manchester United, Villa have refreshed their midfield by bringing in Johan Manzambi (£6.0m) and João Gomes (£5.5m). Both Gomes and Manzambi typically play centrally.
Garnacho loves to hug the left flank and run with the ball, using his pace and dribbling ability to beat defenders and set up chances. If he sticks to what he is good at, Ollie Watkins (£8.0m) and Manzambi could also benefit from his service.
Above: Alejandro Garnacho’s touch heatmap in 2025/26
Garnacho will be competing for a place on the left with Emiliano Buendia (£6.0m), who enjoyed his most productive campaign in three seasons in 2025/26, returning 102 points in 21 starts. But with Champions League commitments to consider, Garnacho should get plenty of game time. One imagines he will get precedence over his older South American team-mate against certain opposition for the pace and trickery that is otherwise missing from Villa’s midfield.
It’s up to Garnacho now. He will need to show the maturity and commitment that has perhaps been lacking from his career to date, but he has the right coach to coax the best out of him and turn him into an attacking asset that could be a steal at just £6.0m.
The sensible approach is to wait and see how he adapts. We had a very similar situation with Jadon Sancho 12 months ago – a young winger, failing to fulfil his early promise, unwanted by United and Chelsea, and given a chance by Villa. While not a total disaster, Sancho ended up with zero league goals and two assists to his name, making just nine starts.
Should Garnacho impress, Gameweek 11 could be the best entry point, giving us plenty of time to assess the situation from afar.
