Aston Villa had to address the Alejandro Garnacho rumors only six games into the season.
Aston Villa has made up their mind about Alejandro Garnacho’s future, even though his start at the club hasn’t been great.
After a rocky end to his five years at Manchester United, the Argentine forward moved to Chelsea in August 2025. Then, this summer, he joined Aston Villa on loan for the season. The deal includes an easy option to buy him permanently, but so far, Garnacho hasn’t made much of an impact.
Much like Harvey Elliott did last season, Garnacho hasn’t started any Premier League games yet. In Villa’s first six matches this season, he only came off the bench three times, playing a total of 31 minutes—without scoring or assisting.
Right now, it looks like George Hemmings, Alysson, and Ibrahim Mbaye are all ahead of him in Unai Emery’s lineup. This brings up questions about whether Villa will keep him long-term.
However, according to TEAMtalk, Villa insiders say Emery still believes in Garnacho and plans to give him more chances soon. But despite the easy option to buy, the club hasn’t made a final decision yet—they want to see how he performs when he gets more playing time.
This situation reminds some of Elliott’s time at Villa last season. Elliott needed just 10 Premier League appearances for a big £35 million move to go through, but he only played four and returned to Liverpool, who then loaned him to Valencia for the 2026/27 season.
One of Garnacho’s biggest disappointments was not playing in Villa’s 3-1 Carabao Cup win over Coventry City. After the game, Emery said Garnacho needs to keep working hard in training to earn his spot.
Emery said, “He has to keep working. When he gets chances to play, he needs to do well. George and Alysson are playing great and fitting what I want. Mbaye is also responding well. We want competition in the team and players who fit our style.”
He added, “Garnacho is a bit behind because of some things in pre-season, so we need to be patient.”
Aston Villa will play Tottenham Hotspur this Saturday in their last game before the three-week international break.