Ineos sold former Man Utd talent who Paul Scholes ‘always quite liked’ ahead of Michael Carrick’s arrival

Paul Scholes felt that one former Manchester United player was “always a threat” on the pitch before Ineos offloaded him from Old Trafford prior to Michael Carrick’s reign.

Ineos threw their full backing behind Michael Carrick as the long-term successor to Ruben Amorim after the Manchester United legend’s scintillating interim reign.

Carrick became the permanent United head coach at Old Trafford in May ahead of the final day of the 2025-26 Premier League campaign.

The 45-year-old former United manager inherited his squad from Ruben Amorim, who had been partly responsible in axing Alejandro Garnacho from the Red Devils.

Alejandro Garnacho had been a key Manchester United first-team player after he had established himself during Erik ten Hag’s reign at Old Trafford. However, the 22-year-old Spain-born talent’s spell at the Premier League club unravelled after Erik ten Hag was sacked as Man Utd manager in 2024 and was replaced by Ruben Amorim.

Garnacho had a falling out with Amorim during his time at the Premier League club and was deeply critical of the 41-year-old former Man Utd manager after the 2025 Europa League final defeat. Amorim was keen to offload Garnacho and the former United youth academy product was sold to Chelsea for a £40m fee in 2025.

When speaking to darts star Luke Littler on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast, Paul Scholes asked: “[Were] you a Garnacho fan, Luke?”

Luke Littler then responded: “I was when he first came into the team, but [not anymore].”

The 19-year-old Man Utd-supporting darts player asked Scholes how he felt about Garnacho and the reaction from the Red Devils icon spoke volumes.

“I always quite liked him, yeah,” Scholes explained.

“I thought he was… Look, he wasn’t playing in a great United team, was he? He was always a threat. He looked like he was going to score goals. He ran through.

“I always thought his attitude was a little bit suspect. He looked like a cocky kid, didn’t he? He was coming out with his earrings… I’m not having that.”

Garnacho is still a Chelsea player by name, but the former Man Utd talent has been loaned out to Premier League side Aston Villa. The Argentina international struggled in his debut season at Stamford Bridge before he moved to Villa Park in the summer for the 2026-27 campaign.