Manchester United winger Alejandro Garnacho was left out of this month's Argentina squad because of his form at club level, national team boss Lionel Scaloni has confirmed.
Garnacho was handed his first senior call-up by Scaloni in March 2022, aged 17, before he had even played a first-team game for United. Having then enjoyed a breakout campaign in 2022/23, the youngster appeared in Argentina’s friendlies against Australia and Indonesia in June.
Garnacho continued to be called up for 2026 World Cup qualifiers in September and October, but only got onto the pitch for five minutes across all four games.
Now, instead of keeping the 19-year-old in the squad for this month's games against Uruguay and Brazil but not playing him, Scaloni opted to leave him at home altogether.
"The reason for not calling up Garnacho? Ale's non-selection is due to a form issue," Scaloni said.
"We don't like to bring players in and constantly leave them out or leave them out of the squad. Everyone wants to be there and it’s great, but the human side plays and you have to make decisions.
"It would have been easy to bring him in, but in the last few call-ups he didn't get minutes and there are times when you have to make decisions, but he's a guy who's on our radar and he's going to continue to be there and he has a huge future."
Garnacho has made 16 appearances for United in all competitions so far this season, but only five of those have been Premier League or Champions League starts. Aside from a goal against Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup, he is also waiting for a first goal or assist of the campaign.
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This article was originally published on 90min as Why Alejandro Garnacho was left out of this month's Argentina squad.