Alejandro Garnacho named Manchester United's U18s Player of the Year ahead of FA Youth Cup final

Alejandro Garnacho has been named Manchester United's U18s Player of the Year.

Garnacho has won the Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year award after an outstanding season in the academy. United's U18s have made the FA Youth Cup final this term and Garnacho's talismanic performances have been instrumental in that success.

The forward has scored five goals in the competition and that haul includes a sensational effort against Everton. Garnacho, 17, made his first team debut with a cameo against Chelsea last month and he's since been included in Ralf Rangnick's matchday squads, while he's also trained with the first team at Carrington. Garnacho is expected to start in the Youth Cup final on Wednesday night.

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Garnacho joined United from Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2020 and he's now followed in the footsteps of Shola Shoretire, Marcus Rashford, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes, who have also won the Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year award.

The youngster also received a shock call-up to the Argentina national team in March. Garnacho has gone from strength to strength this season and Nick Cox, head of the academy, will present the award to Garnacho tonight alongside Harry Maguire.

“Alejandro has had a fantastic season and really deserves this recognition," Cox told United's in-house media, reacting to Garnacho's award. "There have been a number of Under-18s players who have performed exceptionally well throughout the year.

"Reaching an FA Youth Cup final is a fantastic achievement, so this was not an easy decision to make. Alejandro has shown great determination from the day that he arrived here from Spain, in the middle of a