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Alejandro Garnacho has been warned that he needs to tone down his arrogance if he wants to play for Argentina at the World Cup. Garnacho has not been called up for his country for nearly a year and his transfer to Chelsea is yet to change matters. The 21-year-old left Manchester United behind in a £40million switch to the Blues in the summer transfer window. He has made a slow start to life under Enzo Maresca’s management, but did score his first goal for the club in his seventh appearance on the weekend. Garnacho left United after falling out with Ruben Amorim. He reacted furiously to being left on the bench for the Europa League final and was subsequently put into the ‘bomb squad’ after being told he was not in Amorim’s plans for the 2025/26 campaign. He got off the mark in a Chelsea shirt by scoring in the 2-1 defeat by Sunderland on Saturday, but has seen his minutes limited to just 331 so far. Garnacho was convinced to join Chelsea after speaking with Maresca , but his major goal of playing for Argentina at the 2026 World Cup remains a way off. Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni has not picked Garnacho since November 2024 and Oscar Ruggeri, who won 97 caps between 1983 and 1994, has some advice for the youngster. “He’s no better than anyone else, you’re a football player, enjoy it, but you shouldn’t be so full of yourself,” he told TNT Sports . “It’s pointless because you miss out on so much. Someone has to bring him down to earth. They’re not calling him up to the national team. If he comes back down to earth like he was, they’ll call him up again because he’s phenomenal on the pitch.” Ruggeri won the World Cup with La Albiceleste in 1986 and knows the sky-high standards of the national team, who will be defending their crown in the United States, Canada and Mexico next year following their triumph in Qatar . Scaloni has insisted it is simply a case of competition for places and a lack of consistent form from Garnacho which has been behind his non-selection. “The reason for not calling up Garnacho? Ale's non-selection is due to a form issue,” the manager said last November. “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.” Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
