Marc Cucurella sends Alejandro Garnacho cryptic message as Chelsea star drops Man Utd hint

Marc Cucurella has sent Alejandro Garnacho a cryptic message ahead of Chelsea's clash against Manchester United. The 21-year-old winger could start his first game for the Blues when they take on his former side at Old Trafford this afternoon.

Garnacho, who left the Red Devils at the end of the summer transfer window, has already featured a couple of times for Chelsea. The Argentina international made his debut last weekend, coming off the bench in a dramatic four-goal thriller against Brentford.

He enjoyed another brief cameo on Wednesday night as Enzo Maresca's side lost 3-1 to Bayern Munich in the Champions League. Despite two unfortunate results, Garnacho showed great promise.

Speaking to reporters at Cobham ahead of this weekend's match against United, the Chelsea boss suggested that he could be handed his first start. Maresca said: In the last two games, he was inside very good.

"He can be very good in the second half. I explained to him the other day against Bayern Munich. We are adapting our style, what we want from the winger. Now, if he's ready to start tomorrow, I think he's ready to start."

On whether Garnacho will be able to handle a hostile reception, Maresca said: "Yeah, it's always difficult. The other day, against Bayern Munich, Cucurella every time [he] touched the ball, [he got booed]. The noise was not the best one. But you have to learn also to handle these kind of things."

Shortly after the pre-match press conference, Cucurella uploaded a cryptic post to his Instagram story. The Chelsea defender fuelled speculation that a maiden start could be on the cards, captioning a picture of Garnacho in training with the side-eye emoji.

Maresca later revealed that he plans to hold talks with Garnacho before deciding whether he's ready to pile the misery on United. The Blues boss said: "Probably it is something that we have to think about.

"First of all, because he is young, so you don't know how he can react. But also in case we decide to start with him, I will have a chat with him to ask also how he feels about that."

Chelsea haven't beaten United at Old Trafford in the Premier League since May 2013. On whether it's a good opportunity to set the record straight, Maresca said: "I think it's always difficult to play United away in their stadium, Old Trafford.

"So I don't think that now is the right moment, or next year will be the right moment, or last year was the right moment. It's always difficult. It's a difficult team, it's a difficult stadium.

"I watch the games that they play this season. Some of the games are not a real result in terms of even City game. Until 1-0, 2-0, they were in the game. When the game wasn't in there, they had a few chances to score and to go ahead on the result. So it will be a tough game."

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