One of the role models who motivated Alejandro Garnacho to become a professional player is Cristiano Ronaldo. “I always consider Ronaldo my role model. I have never seen a player like him in my life. I want to be like him,” said the young Manchester United player.

In fact, Garnacho’s numbers at Old Trafford are very similar to Ronaldo’s. When comparing the statistics of both in their first 2 seasons at Man United, their scoring and assist records are almost identical.

“I don’t know if it’s real or I’m dreaming,” Garnacho posted on Instagram after playing with Ronaldo in the match against Tiraspol in 2022.

In his first campaign with Man United, CR7 scored 6 goals and had 4 assists. The Portuguese player needed 40 matches to achieve that. For his part, Garnacho scored five goals and provided four assists in his first 34 games at Old Trafford. Meaning, the young Argentine star is only 1 goal behind his idol and has played 6 fewer matches.

In this season, Garnacho’s second campaign with Man United, his numbers have approached Ronaldo’s. The Portuguese striker scored 9 goals and had 7 assists in his second year, and Garnacho has 9 goals and 4 assists so far. Worth mentioning is that CR7 achieved that number after 50 matches while Garnacho only 40 matches.

Garnacho’s playing style is reminiscent of the Portuguese player in his first years playing for the “Red Devils”. Furthermore, Man United’s “number 17” continuously shows his admiration for Ronaldo through celebrations.

The Argentine player imitated Ronaldo’s trademark “siuuu” celebration after scoring against Everton. Even at the bowling alley, Garnacho wrote the name “Cristiano” instead of his own name on the leaderboard.

“I want to be like Ronaldo”, said the Argentine player. That dream seems to have come true, at least in Garnacho’s first two seasons as the “Red Devils”.

Garnacho’s numbers are identical to Ronaldo’s and to some extent, the duo are similar in attitude and personality on the field. The Argentinian now faces the opportunity to surpass his idol for the rest of the season.

After Garnacho scored a super goal against Everton in the Premier League, Bruno Fernandes commented: “Maybe Garnacho has watched too many clips of Cristiano. We all know that he is a big fan of Ronaldo. Still There’s a long way to go for him to be like Cristiano, but he’s taking steps. He wants to become something special in the football world and I think he’s capable of doing that.”

This season, in the context of Man United’s poor performance, Garnacho is currently one of the team’s main stars. When Ten Hag continuously trusted and gave him opportunities, this striker became much more mature.

“You have a lot of responsibility and you have to know that and learn how to do it, which is a process. Garnacho is on the right track, going in a good direction. And at the same time he knows what needs to be done as well as why that is necessary”, Ten Hag said about Garnacho after the 4-3 win against Liverpool in the FA Cup.