Alejandro Garnacho snubbed by Argentina & could still play for Spain

Manchester United youngster Alejandro Garnacho has created debate in Spain and Argentina by appearing to ‘like’ and then unlike a tweet suggesting that he wasn’t called into the latter’s World Cup squad because he was born in the former.

Garnacho was first called into the senior Argentina squad last season when he was still just 17 and was yet to play a first-team game at club level.

He remained uncapped but was named in Lionel Scaloni’s 55-player preliminary squad for the World Cup, which also coincided with a senior breakthrough at Manchester United – he was even recently named the club’s Player of the Month for November after scoring winning goals against both Real Sociedad and Fulham, as well as assisting twice against Aston Villa.

The 18-year-old wasn’t named in Argentina’s final squad, but the injury withdrawals of Nicolas Gonzalez and Joaquin Correa raised the possibility that he could be late replacement.

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Instead, Scaloni went with Atletico Madrid forward Angel Correa, who has scored three times in 22 senior international appearances and Atlanta United’s Thiago Almada, who debuted in September.

Garnacho’s Twitter account reacted to a tweet from a fan that read, “No summon for Garnacho because he is Spanish.”

Garnacho remains eligible to represent both Spain and Argentina at international level. He was born in Madrid to an Argentine mother and started his career in the youth ranks at Getafe and then Atletico Madrid, before moving to England when he turned 16.

The youngster has already played for both countries at junior international, first Spain’s Under-18 squad and later Argentina’s Under-20 side. But the opportunity is still legally there for him to switch his international back to Spain from Argentina should he wish to.