Enzo Maresca drops major line-up hint for trip to Old Trafford with £40m summer signing poised to start

The 21-year-old has featured twice for Chelsea since making his £40 million switch to Stamford Bridge in a transfer that he had waited the entire summer to complete – so much so that he even rebuffed an approach from Bayern Munich.

Garnacho made an 11-minute cameo during the closing stages of last week’s clash away to Brentford, although he instantly got off on the wrong foot when being at fault for the Bees’ 93rd-minute equaliser; he lost track of his man Fabio Carvalho, who was then able to sneak to the back post and secure a crucial point in the dying embers of the game.

On Wednesday evening, in Chelsea’s Champions League opener, the Argentine again came off the bench, this time playing 22 minutes as Maresca’s side fell to a 3-1 defeat at the Allianz Arena.

If there’s any fixture that he’ll be desperate to prove himself in, it’ll be against his former employers, especially considering how bitter his tenure ended in M16.

Why Garnacho’s United career came to a sour end

Towards the end of last season when Garnacho had been left out of the XI for the Europa League final, he proceeded to take aim at manager Ruben Amorim at full-time before hinting that he’d be on the move over the summer.

It was reported the following week that Amorim had told Garnacho in training to ‘pray’ he could find another club to take him on board, before dropping him for the final outing of 2024/2025 at home to Aston Villa.

When pressed on the prospect of the forward starting on Saturday, Maresca told reporters in his pre-match press conference: “I think he’s ready to start.

“In the last two games, he was inside very good. We are happy with the way he is adapting to our style.”