Topics: Lionel Messi, Argentina, Alejandro Garnacho, Manchester United, Football World Cup
Manchester United forward Alejandro Garnacho missed out on a last-gasp call-up to Argentina's 26-man World Cup squad after manager Lionel Scaloni was forced to make two changes to his team.
It was confirmed on Thursday that Joaquin Correa and Nicolas Gonzalez would not take part in this winter's tournament in Qatar after picking up injuries prior to their opener against Saudi Arabia on November 22.
As a result, Scaloni was reportedly considering Garnacho as a potential replacement but instead, the Argentina boss opted for experience, with Atletico Madrid forward Angel Correa getting the nod.
Highly-rated attacking midfielder Thiago Almada, who joined MLS side Atlanta United in January, was also handed a place in the 26-man squad ahead.
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After the news was announced, a post from a Twitter account that said: "He will not summon Garnacho because he is Spanish," was liked by Alejandro Garnacho's official account.
The 'like' has now been removed from his page, but a screenshot continues to be shared on social media.
On Thursday afternoon, plenty of United fans were optimistic about Garnacho's chances of making the 26-man squad after Lionel Scaloni's comments.
"We have days to decide," Scaloni said. "There are some players who are physically troubled. The truth is that we are not sure that these 26 players are all in the squad, luckily, we have days to decide if we have to make any modifications.”
But of course, Angel Correa and Thiago Almada were picked ahead of the youngster, who was handed a surprise call-up to Argentina's 44-man squad ahead of their World Cup qualifiers against Venezuela and Ecuador in March.
In fact, Lionel Messi is said to have been impressed with Garnacho's ability and confidence from when the Manchester United youngster trained with Argentina's first team.
Bruno Fernandes and Erik ten Hag both mentioned Garnacho's attitude after he scored in United's 1-0 win over Real Sociedad.
And after the full-time whistle, former midfielder Paul Scholes claimed that playing with Lionel Messi could have led to the so-called attitude problem.
"He did well tonight, but he knows we still expect a lot from him," Scholes told BT Sport.
"He did not start the best during pre-season and maybe did not have the attitude that he should have had. But he has changed that now and you can see that with his performances on the pitch."
Scholes added: "He said that was in pre-season, so maybe he was too big for his boots in the summer. He did go with Argentina and play with Messi, and maybe he has come back and thought 'this is me and I am part of this team'.
"He's a young lad, he is going to learn and we are going to see the benefits of that."
