Garnacho faces early tests at Aston Villa after limited minutes since loan move
Alejandro Garnacho has managed just 31 minutes in three substitute appearances for Aston Villa since joining the club on an initial loan from Chelsea two months ago, and remains out of favour with manager Unai Emery. He has been an unused substitute in Villa’s last four matches, including the 3-2 win at Tottenham, and his longest outing so far was 15 minutes against Hull.
Garnacho cost Chelsea £40m when they signed him from Manchester United last year and produced one goal and four assists in 24 Premier League appearances for the Blues last season, output Chelsea judged insufficient before allowing the move. The 22-year-old’s early lack of game time at Villa has prompted questions about his short-term future at Villa Park despite the campaign being only a month old.
Emery favours a gradual integration of new arrivals, citing the example of Youri Tielemans, who did not start a Premier League match until November 2023 after joining in the summer and subsequently became an important player. Of Villa’s 10 summer signings, only Joao Gomes started the opening league game and only two newcomers — Zion Suzuki and Nicolas Jackson — started the following match, indicating Emery’s selective use of his recruits.
Garnacho was omitted from the starting line-up even in the Carabao Cup win at Coventry when Emery made seven changes, with academy graduate George Hemmings starting ahead of him after joining Villa from Forest as a teenager and earning the manager’s trust. Ibrahim Mbaye, a £47m signing from Paris St-Germain, made his first start in the 3-1 victory at Coventry and is currently preferred to Garnacho along the wing.
A facial injury in early August disrupted Garnacho’s pre-season and caused him to miss the Super Cup defeat to Paris St-Germain on the tour of Thailand, which the club’s reporting noted as one complicating factor. Emery said of Garnacho: "Continue working. Work, work, train, work. When he can have minutes to play, try to play well. He is progressing, but we have players in front of him now. "George is playing fantastic. Alysson is also understanding things well and is giving us things I want. [Ibrahim] Mbaye also responded well. "We want a competitive team and players to compete in the style we have. Garnacho is a little bit behind because of some circumstances we had in pre-season. It is time to be patient for the time he needs."
Garnacho has previously described the need for an adjustment period during a club change, telling Chelsea he needed time to adapt to a "different club and a different place." The article notes he first made his name as an energetic teenager and has shown he can trouble Premier League defences, but warns that "A further season of struggle would be a significant setback."
The move to Villa followed wider dealings between the clubs: Chelsea signed Morgan Rogers from Villa for £117m, creating a need for Emery to add pace, while Villa recruited Nicolas Jackson from Chelsea for a club-record £65m; the two clubs have completed eight deals in the last four years. Chelsea did not allow Garnacho to train with Xabi Alonso’s first-team before his July departure, rejected a loan offer from Roma as unsuitable, and structured Villa’s loan with an obligation to buy linked to appearances that those close to the deal believe is likely to be met but which does not guarantee a permanent transfer.
Time will determine whether Garnacho overcomes his current stall — the article recalls his Manchester United debut at 17, his inclusion in Argentina’s 2024 Copa America-winning squad and his eight international caps, unchanged since November 2024 — and whether Villa trigger the purchase obligation; Emery has said Garnacho must earn his minutes and then seize them when given the chance.
