Manchester United: Rasmus Höjlund, Alejandro Garnacho and Kobby Mainou. The photo was supposed to be taken at a future date, but all three are now out of frame.

A photo of Rasmus Hjøjlund, Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbi Mainu celebrating a win in February 2024 has gone viral, but 16 months on, all three could be leaving Manchester United. What went wrong with the promising young trio and who is to blame for their failure to sign Ruben Amorim?

Image: Ruben Amorim's Manchester United project seems to have no place for Rasmus Hojlund, Alejandro Garnacho or Kobby Main.

Instantly became a cult classic. But now for the wrong reasons.

Images of Rasmus Hjøjlund, Alejandro Garnacho and Kobby Mainou were displayed on advertising hoardings at Old Trafford during the February 2024 celebrations, seemingly showcasing Manchester United's bright future.

A year and a half later, Hjøjlund and Garnacho are likely to leave the club before the end of the transfer window, Mainu have been eliminated from the Premier League first team and the club is in another crisis.

How did it come to this? And who is to blame?

Comment: If Amorim have lost faith in Manchester United, then it's all over.
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Højlund, 21, opened the scoring against West Ham, with Alejandro Garnacho, 19, adding two more. Kobby Mainoo, 18, a rising star at the academy, started for England at the Euro finals a few months later.

Their shared celebration of Garnacho's first goal was a cheeky dig at West Ham's Mohamed Kudus, who celebrated his goal in the return leg in a similar manner a couple of months ago.

But over time, it became a symbol of something more. It was a glimmer of hope, an image that inspired faith that better times were yet to come.

Hjøjlund enjoyed a brilliant spell at Manchester United, scoring seven goals in six games.

Garnacho had his best goalscoring performance that season, scoring seven goals in the Premier League, including Puskas's winner against Everton, and the opening goal in the FA Cup final against Manchester City.

Maine also scored at Wembley, which seemed to confirm that his rise would inevitably take him to the top.

Pictured: Alejandro Garnacho and Kobby Mainu scored in the FA Cup final at Wembley.

Meeting then United manager Erik ten Hag days after the Old Trafford photo was taken, the Dutchman issued a warning to the trio.

He spoke of the need to back up “high potential” with high results. “These are the next steps we need to take,” he told Sky Sports.

But there was certainly optimism at the time. “We have some interesting players,” Ten Hag said when asked about the celebrations. A smile lit up the face of the coach, who is usually more interested in tactical talk than emotion.

He realised the importance of the symbolism and what it meant to Manchester United fans.

After all, this is a club that prides itself on its history of developing and improving young talent.

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However, fast forward to the final days of the summer transfer window and Hjöjlund has gone to Napoli, Garnacho to Chelsea and Maino – a valuable homegrown asset – has struggled to make the first team, has requested a loan and is expected to be the subject of offers from other players.

Maino and Garnacho, in particular, feel like victims of circumstance and Ruben Amorim's fixation on a 3-4-3 formation.

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Watch for Ruben Amorim's reaction throughout the evening as pressure mounts on the Manchester United manager following their League Cup exit to Grimsby.

The Englishman has been overlooked in central midfield, despite playing a similar role alongside Declan Rice at the Euros, with Casemiro, Bruno Fernandes and Manuel Ugarte favourites there.

He was dropped in the disastrous defeat to Grimsby but it is clear Amorim are not confident he has the attributes for the position.

The short-term experiment of using Mainu as a striker also appears to be over, with United having spent heavily on Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo. With Fernandes also deployed in this more forward role, Mainu could again be considered a fourth option in another position.

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Kave Solhekol has revealed all the details of the deal between Chelsea and Manchester United for Alejandro Garnacho.

Meanwhile, Garnacho found himself playing as a winger in a team that no longer uses them, and the full-back role never seemed like the right fit to best showcase his talents.

There were some ribbing during substitutions and off-field friction, but attitude was not the main reason for his departure.

Too many misses eventually proved disastrous for Højlund, and now Benjamin Cesco has taken over as the leader of the forward line. However, he can rightly point out that the attack around him is not operating at full strength.

And there must also be sympathy for the young forward, who was never destined to be United's first-choice striker, having arrived in a summer when the club were also keen to sign Harry Kane.

Interestingly, Hjøjlund has scored more goals than Kane since he was 22, but United want to move on.

It's not hard to imagine the trio following in the footsteps of Marcus Rashford, Scott McTominay and Anthony and resuming their careers away from Old Trafford.

They are all talented and will no doubt enjoy another great time. And it will raise even more questions about the atmosphere and culture at United – and perhaps, ultimately, even regrets.

Where, for example, will Mainoo be in a couple of years, when Fernandez, Casemiro and Ugarte are likely to leave?

Wouldn't Amorim's successor – whether he comes sooner or later – want to have a winger who could threaten Garnacho?

The pair could be scrapped in favour of the ideas of a manager with the worst record in Manchester United's modern history.

This has been the story of United since Sir Alex Ferguson retired: the club has been lurching from one direction to another with little regard for the long term.

The futures of Hjøjlund, Garnacho and Mainu seemed sealed when they were photographed together on that promising day at Old Trafford. Just 16 months later, they were out of the picture.

Sourse: skysports.com

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