Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni says ’s lack of form for is the main reason behind his non-selection for the latest round of international matches.
The teenager had been called up in the previous two international breaks, in September and October, but only made one cameo appearance off the bench late on in a 3-0 win over Bolivia.
He has also been struggling for form with United and has failed to register either a goal or an assist in his 10 outings and four appearances this season.
His only goal contribution came in September’s 3-0 victory over Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup, though he did see an assist for Scott McTominay chalked off against Fulham earlier this month after a very tight ‘subjective offside’ call on Harry Maguire.
Despite his current struggles, Garnacho is viewed as a player with a massive future for both club and country and Scaloni says he felt it was appropriate to give the 19-year-old a break – particularly as he was unlikely to feature once again.
Speaking ahead of two massive fixtures against Uruguay and Brazil, Scaloni said: ‘The reason for not calling up Garnacho? Ale’s non-selection is due to a form issue.
‘Also, during the last call-ups, he did not have many minutes.
‘We have to think about the human aspect as well [with the players] but it’s great that everyone wants to be here.’
One player who will be involved for Argentina is skipper Lionel Messi, with Scaloni confident the 36-year-old is in a good place despite not playing much for Inter Miami.
‘How is Messi? He is in good shape,’ said the Argentina boss.
‘Despite not having played many games in the last month he arrives with us in shape because he was training. He is good.’
Garnacho, meanwhile, will spend the next fortnight training with United’s plethora of players who were not selected to play for their countries during the international break.
The likes of Mason Mount, Antony, Anthony Martial, Hannibal Mejbri and Aaron Wan-Bissaka were all not selected, while Raphael Varane has retired from international football and Diogo Dalot pulled out of the Portugal squad as his partner is expecting a baby.
United are next in action away at Goodison Park against Everton, a match which kickstarts a very demanding run of games including an away trip to Galatasaray, a visit to St James’ Park and home matches against Chelsea and Bayern Munich.
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