Joe Cole has warned Alejandro Garnacho he must ‘knuckle down’ if he is to thrive at Chelsea ahead of his imminent move from Manchester United.
The Argentina international was deemed surplus to requirements by Ruben Amorim following a series of disciplinary breeches.
After a social media indiscretion that followed United’s post season tour, Garnacho was exiled and demoted to United’s infamous ‘bomb squad’ that also included the the likes of Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Antony.
The 21-year-old will have a chance to kickstart a career that has stalled alarmingly over the last 12 months at Stamford Bridge after a £40million fee was agreed on Friday.
Garnacho was in the stands on Saturday to watch his new club in west London derby action against Fulham, and Cole issued a stark warning to Chelsea’s new recruit.
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He told TNT Sport: ‘At his best is the crucial thing because he’s going to be competing with Gittens you would imagine for that left wing role and coming in on his right foot.
‘He has moments where he looks sensational and looks outstanding. We see Manchester United probably isn’t a great environment for a young player at the moment. We’ve seen players like McTominay leave and thrive.
‘There’s levels to go up for Garnacho. I think it’s a good price for Chelsea. There’s question marks on the lad, I don’t know him but the ins and outs and the things that come out from his camp and how he’s handled being dropped at Manchester United I think that needs to improve.
‘If he wants to knuckle down and become a top player that he can become, he needs to come to a good environment which I think Chelsea is and grow from there.
‘But there’s lots of competition for those wide positions.’
Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca, meanwhile, said he will not use his personal aversion to social media to insist Garnacho tones down his online presence once the winger’s move from Manchester United is confirmed.
Following last season’s Europa League final, Garnacho’s brother Robert posted on Instagram that the player had been “thrown under the bus” by manager Ruben Amorim.
Whilst on holiday in June, Garnacho then posted a photograph of himself wearing an Aston Villa shirt with ‘Rashford’ on the back, an undisguised endorsement of team-mate Marcus Rashford’s decision to leave United, drawing an angry backlash from fans.
Maresca has long made known his disdain for social media, but said his hands are too full to spend time policing his players’ online activity.
‘I’m not going to tell them don’t use (social media),’ he said. ‘They have family around them that can give them advice. I have four kids and I try to give them advice, but if I need to give 25 more players advice it’s too complicated.
‘Anyone can do what they want, anyone can say what they want. But at the end it’s a matter of respect.’
