Garnacho sits out Villa's Champions League win over Brugge, raising fears of another wasted loan

Alejandro Garnacho did not set foot on the pitch as Aston Villa defeated Club Brugge 3-2 in the Champions League on Tuesday, leaving the Chelsea loanee with just 31 minutes of football across three late cameo appearances since joining Villa this summer.

The 21-year-old Argentina international, who left Manchester United last year in a £40 million move to Chelsea, was named among the substitutes for the trip to Belgium but remained unused throughout. It is the first time Emery has left him out of a matchday contribution entirely, and it follows a pattern that has already drawn sharp reaction from supporters.

Fans have drawn comparisons to Harvey Elliott’s difficult loan spell from Liverpool last season, in which the midfielder managed just nine appearances before returning to Anfield. “I’ve never been more convinced that Garnacho is the next Harvey Elliott than I have been tonight,” one supporter wrote after the final whistle in Bruges.

The player who has kept Garnacho out on the left wing is 19-year-old George Hemmings, who made his Champions League debut on Tuesday and has now started every Villa match this season. Hemmings impressed again in Belgium, though he missed several chances, and Emery has been unambiguous about why the teenager is ahead of Garnacho in the pecking order.

“George worked last year the whole year with us and played minutes. He is performing fantastic and getting better,” Emery said after Villa’s goalless draw with Hull City at the weekend. “He created one assist for Buendia. He is working in the intensity and kilometres we need. He is doing it. I think he is a player now, clearly, to be in the Premier League.”

On Garnacho specifically, Emery was measured but pointed: “We have other players who joined who need to adapt to us in training, playing matches, and Garnacho is in this way. We need their performance to try to add things, working and getting numbers.”

Garnacho’s loan move to Villa was arranged after his debut season at Stamford Bridge failed to go as planned, with the deal carrying an option for the club to make the transfer permanent at the end of the campaign. On current evidence, he will need to force his way into Emery’s plans considerably before that conversation becomes relevant.