The international break is usually a chance for players to step away from club football. For Alejandro Garnacho, that luxury does not really exist.

There was a time when the winger looked destined for much bigger things. Signed by Manchester United as a highly rated teenager, he made his senior debut at 17 in April 2022 and had already become one of the side’s most effective players by the 2023-24 season. That campaign ended with him finishing sixth in the Kopa Trophy voting, a sign that his rise had gathered real momentum.

What followed was far less predictable.

In December 2024, Garnacho and Marcus Rashford were omitted from a matchday squad for the derby against Manchester City after manager Ruben Amorim said he was unhappy with their training performances. Garnacho returned quickly and was praised for the way he responded, while Rashford never played under Amorim again. But his situation soon worsened as he found it difficult to fit into Amorim’s winger-less system.

The relationship reached its breaking point after the 2025 Europa League final, when Garnacho questioned why he had not started. Amorim then told him to find a new club, and Chelsea moved in. They had considered a January 2025 approach before paying $54 million (£40 million) six months later.

However, the move did not develop as hoped. Chelsea’s recruitment team drove the deal and Enzo Maresca had not spoken with Garnacho before his arrival, which went some way to explaining his limited starts. He was not criticised for attitude or work rate, but his end product was modest, with eight goals in all competitions and only one in the Premier League.

Chelsea then accepted that offers could be entertained after one season, leading Garnacho to Aston Villa on loan with an obligation to buy under certain conditions. Even there, the search for rhythm has stalled. Unai Emery has given him just 31 minutes this season, with his latest appearance coming on Sept. 5. He was an unused substitute against Coventry City in the Carabao Cup and remained on the bench for the win over Tottenham Hotspur.

“Work, work, train, work,” Emery said, while also noting that other players are “giving us things I want.” For Garnacho, the message is clear.

Manchester United avoided a second straight Premier League defeat with a late equaliser at Fulham, but the result did little to quiet the concern around their start to the 2026/27 season.

For much of the afternoon, it seemed as if United were heading for consecutive league losses for the first time in more than a year, dating back to the closing stages of 2024/25. The match changed in the 89th minute when Matheus Cunha struck from distance, only for the effort to be heavily deflected off David Affengruber and beyond Bernd Leno.

The point leaves United on five from five, a tally that matches their joint-lowest at this stage of a Premier League campaign, alongside 2014/15. They will remain 12th during the international break before returning on Oct. 10 against Tottenham Hotspur, who are bottom of the table.

Gary Neville, speaking on Sky Sports, offered a blunt assessment of the period after half-time, describing it as the “worst” 15 minutes he’s ever seen from any Manchester United team. United’s tempo, urgency and willingness to run were all questioned, with the side having covered almost 7 kilometers less than Fulham by the 73rd minute.

Senne Lammens kept United in touch in the first half with four saves, including quick stops to deny Joshua King and Sander Berge. He later could have done better when Fulham went ahead, as his parry from Calvin Bassey’s shot created the opening for the goal.

Marcus Rashford’s return has been viewed positively in general, yet this match underlined the gap between effort and end product. In 77 minutes, he led United for touches in the opposition box and shots, but still left without a goal contribution. Across six appearances this season, he has yet to score or assist.

There was also curiosity over United’s all-blue away kit, worn competitively for the first time on Sunday after only appearing in preseason.

Michael Carrick has brushed off criticism over Manchester United’s supposed lack of identity, arguing that it can actually work in the team’s favour if opponents cannot work them out.

United have made a mixed start to the new season. They failed to score in two of their opening four Premier League matches, have not kept a clean sheet in the division, and have taken only two wins from six games in all competitions. Their recent Carabao Cup exit has only intensified the discussion around what Carrick is trying to build.

But the manager is not troubled by the debate. Speaking to Sky Sports ahead of Sunday’s meeting with Fulham, he made clear that unpredictability is part of the plan.

“I quite like the fact that someone can’t work out our identity, to be honest. That means you’re unpredictable. From an attacking sense, we want to be unpredictable,” the manager told Sky Sports in the buildup to Sunday’s important encounter against Fulham.

“We don’t want people to be able to read what we are going to do next or what our main strength is. If we can do a good number of things well and attack from a number of areas, I’d rather have a team that does that. We’ve attacked well since January, scored a good number of goals and being unpredictable is a good thing.”

United remain in a period of development, with the club still aiming for the Premier League title by next season as part of a wider ambition to reclaim the trophy during, or before, its 150th anniversary year in 2027-28.

That sense of growth was also reflected in Carrick’s comments on Leny Yoro and Ayden Heaven, both of whom started the Carabao Cup defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion. Yoro is 20, Heaven is 19, and Carrick said he would not make any rushed judgments after that result at Old Trafford.

“I think they’ll learn from different experiences and they’ve done particularly well and they’re in a really good spot, two young players that have got really good futures,” the manager told reporters.

“So unfortunately you go through times in football and you have some good spells and sometimes you learn a lot from the things that didn’t go so well. But I wouldn’t isolate them at all from the other night.”

He added of Yoro: “Leny is 20, and again in context, he’s got a fantastic future ahead of him and a lot of potential. He’s learning, he’s developing,” Carrick stressed. “To be at this club and play as a center back at such a young age is a challenging position. It’s one that he can do for sure, it’s one that Ayden can do for sure.