Two months into his loan spell at Aston Villa, Alejandro Garnacho has yet to earn the trust of manager Unai Emery — and the questions surrounding his future are growing louder.

The Argentina winger has managed only 31 minutes of first-team football since arriving from Chelsea, spread across three substitute appearances. His longest outing was a 15-minute cameo against Hull. More strikingly, Garnacho has been left off the matchday squad entirely for Villa's last four fixtures, sitting out as his side won 3-2 at Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.

A familiar pattern of underperformance

Garnacho, 22, moved to Chelsea from Manchester United for £40 million last season, but produced just one goal and four assists in 24 Premier League appearances — falling well short of what Chelsea had hoped for. He was allowed to leave on loan during the summer, with Roma also interested before Villa secured his services.

A facial injury sustained in early August disrupted his pre-season, causing him to miss the Super Cup defeat against Paris St-Germain and leaving him behind in Emery's planning from the outset.

Emery's measured approach

Emery has a well-established habit of integrating new arrivals slowly. Youri Tielemans, for example, did not start a Premier League match until November 2023 despite joining the previous summer, before eventually becoming a cornerstone of the team. Of Villa's 10 summer signings this year, only Joao Gomes started the opening league game.

Yet Garnacho's situation feels more pressing. He was unused even during the Carabao Cup win at Coventry, a night when Emery made seven changes to his starting eleven.

George Hemmings, an academy product who joined Villa from Forest, has impressed sufficiently to start ahead of Garnacho. Ibrahim Mbaye, a £47 million signing from Paris St-Germain, made his first Villa start in the 3-1 victory at Coventry and has also moved ahead of Garnacho in the pecking order.

Emery was candid when pressed on his absence from matchday squads: