Adebayo Akinfenwa has explained why Alejandro Garnacho struggled to make a mark at Manchester United before his £40m switch to Chelsea, but he doesn’t want to see the winger thrive at Stamford Bridge
Adebayo Akinfenwa hopes Alejandro Garnacho is “just average” with Chelsea this season. The Argentine struggled to find his footing with Manchester United last term before being deemed surplus to requirements by Ruben Amorim.
As a result, he found himself joining Chelsea in a £40million move this summer, with hopes of finding his stride in the English capital under Enzo Maresca. However, former Northampton, Wimbledon and Wycombe striker Akinfenwa, who is a long-time Liverpool fan, hopes he “doesn’t tear it up” with his new club.
Speaking to Mirror Football via Tony’s Chocolonely, the 43-year-old said: “I ain’t going to lie, I hope he doesn’t even tear it up for Chelsea. I’ll tell you this now, I hope he doesn’t tear it up.
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“I don’t want to wish bad on him, but I hope he’s just average. And the Liverpool players, I want to tear up everything.”
Akinfenwa also highlighted why he believes Garnacho struggled to make a mark with United before moving on to Chelsea, citing how the pressure of playing for one of the world’s biggest clubs may have been too much for the 21-year-old.
He added: “The one thing I’d say is I can empathise, but I don’t know the level of scrutiny at these top clubs. I know the levels of the clubs I was at and sometimes you’re like, ‘Oh, right.’
“Just sometimes being in a small city, I remember in Torquay and people knew where I shopped, and it was a running joke. I like my Bourbons and the manager was like, ‘Oh, you was in there buying Bourbons.’ But that’s on a small scale. So I couldn’t fathom the likes of the pressure that comes with a Chelsea, with a Man United.
“I think environments play a massive part and with different managers coming in, with the level of scrutiny, I think it’s a lot of pressure and some players can deal with it, some players can’t. We’ve all seen it.
“I think Antony left Man United, went to Betis and hit the ground running. Some people may turn around and say, ‘No, these footballers need everything to be perfect,’ which again, I won’t argue that point. But things need to go in your favour.
“That’s on a day-to-day, especially being young, and having the weight and the pressure of the likes of Man United on his, and you do, you need a consistent base.”
Akinfenwa also suggested deeper issues at United may have a major effect on the performances of their brightest talents, instilling a belief that it has been shown time and time again that the club lacks a sturdy support system for developing talents.
He added: “You need a core support system, which is like, ‘This is what we play, this is how we are.’
“Sometimes we’ll be like, ‘Oh, look, very emotion based.’ But if you’ve got that core system that always allows, ‘Look, this is the culture we set, this is what we do regardless, win, lose or draw.’ I don’t think Man United’s had that for a long time. I think with [Marcus] Rashford, I think with [Jadon] Sancho, and I think with Garnacho, I think these are players where [this is clear].
“Again, [Scott] McTominay’s left on one at Napoli. So these are elements where you’re talking about, ‘Okay, you know what, fundamentally, at its core, there’s something not quite right with United.'”
Garnacho made his Chelsea debut from the bench on Saturday as the Blues were held to a 2-2 draw by Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium, entering the fray in the 79th minute. He crucially lost his man, Fabio Carvalho, defending at the back post for the stoppage time equaliser.
However, he may see more time to flourish when Chelsea take on Bayern Munich in their Champions League opener on Wednesday evening.
It comes as Akinfenwa has teamed up with Tony’s Chocolonely to become the brand’s first-ever Bar Breaker in a brand new campaign. Speaking about his role, Akinfenwa said: “I’m humbled to be the first official Bar Breaker for Tony’s Chocolonely.
“You know their ethos, their look, chunky – I hear that people be struggling to break how chunky it is. So they have to come to Mr Beast mode to try and help the nation – both break the bar and then also try and get people to get on board with their mission. I do think it’s a nice fusion, it’s a nice balance. The official Bar Breaker!”
Adebayo ‘The Beast’ Akinfenwa has been named Tony’s Chocolonely’s first official Bar Breaker. The Beast is motivating the nation to flex their thumb muscles to help more people enjoy more of the chunky, unequally divided bars with ease – ultimately bringing more people along on the brand’s mission to end exploitation in cocoa.
Find out more on the campaign and join the mission via the Tony’s Chocolonely website here.
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