Alejandro Garnacho has asked Erik ten Hag to grant him leave and allow him to play in Argentina’s Under-20 World Cup campaign, according to reports.

The 18-year-old has become a regular feature within the Manchester United side this season and has made 29 appearances for them in all competitions so far.

His performances with the Red Devils have seen him earn regular call-ups to Argentina’s U20 side in recent months, ahead of the World Cup starting in May.

However, if he were to play in the competition, it would mean that he would be unavailable for their FA Cup final against rivals Manchester City on June 3rd.

While for some players this would be a difficult choice to make, it appears that the youngster has already made his mind up and outlined his intentions to United’s staff.

Alejandro Garnacho has made his intentions clear ahead of the Under-20 World Cup starting

The winger has reportedly spoken with Man United boss Erik ten Hag about the tournament

According to Argentinian outlet Doble Amarilla, Garnacho has spoken with ten Hag and told him: ‘I need to write my story with the Argentine shirt. I ask you please to let me go’.

The U20 World Cup kick-starts on May 20th, running until June 11th, and will be held in Garnacho’s home country, Argentina.

Neither Argentina or Man United have confirmed whether Garnacho will participate in the tournament yet, with the winger still sidelined from an ankle injury sustained in March.

However, the 18-year-old posted an image to Instagram last week suggesting he’s on the road recovery, showing him wearing boots for the first time since the injury.

United manager Erik ten Hag also confirmed earlier this month that he was optimistic that Garnacho would return to first-team action before the end of the campaign.

Garnacho has become an integral part of Ten Hag’s squad this season and has managed to score four goals in his 29 appearances for the Red Devils this season.

However, Javier Mascherano – now in charge of Argentina’s Under-20 team – is also a big fan of the attacker, who has netted four goals in five appearances and was named in his preliminary squad for the tournament.

Garnacho has scored four goals in four appearances for Argentina’s Under-20 squad

The United winger is yet to make an appearance for Argentina’s first-team, despite earning multiple call-ups to the squad.

The 18-year-old was named in Argentina’s senior squad for their friendlies against Panama and Curaçao in March.

However, he was struck by injury during their clash with Southampton shortly after and consequentially could not partake in the matches.

The winger also missed out on a place in the squad for Qatar, when they won the World Cup, but will be hoping he can break into the first-team soon.

source: dailymail.co.uk