Erik ten Hag insists Man United are backing Alejandro Garnacho as the winger faces an FA investigation over a social media post about Andre Onana which featured two gorilla emojis

Erik ten Hag insists Manchester United are behind Alejandro Garnacho over his social media post which is being investigated by the FA.

Garnacho could be in trouble after using gorilla emojis next to a photo of United players celebrating with Cameroon goalkeeper Andre Onana after his crucial late penalty in the win over FC Copenhagen on Tuesday night.

It was deleted after 15 minutes but the FA have contacted United to ask the 19-year-old Argentine winger for his observations before deciding whether it constitutes an aggravating factor under their rule E3(1).

Onana supported his teammate on social media on Thursday night, writing: “People can’t choose what to be offended by.” I know exactly what @agarnacho7 meant: power and strength. This matter should not be taken further.’

And Ten Hag pointed to Onana’s message as proof that his players are supporting the youngster. When asked before the Manchester derby if there was any news on this, he replied: “Not at the moment.” We are talking to the FA, I can confirm that and I would like to emphasize that we are together, we are united. You saw that in Andre’s post.’

Alejandro Garnacho posted about his teammate Andre Onana and added two gorilla emojis

The FA could take action against Garnacho if he is deemed to have broken their rules

Erik ten Hag insisted Manchester United were behind the winger and highlighted Onana’s response

However, the FA could still take action after suspending Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva for one match and fining him £50,000 in 2019 for posting an image of a black cartoon character which they said was related to his race Teammate Benjamin Mendy referred.

United striker Edinson Cavani was also banned for three games and fined £100,000 the following year for calling a friend a “negrito” in Uruguay.

Meanwhile, Ten Hag expects former Ajax Amsterdam and Inter Milan goalkeeper Onana to build on his impressive performances against Copenhagen and Sheffield United after a difficult start to life in English football.

He added: “You give him the standards and also the expectations, but it’s also about achieving the same level. “He has high expectations of himself. We give him the confidence, look at what he’s in has done for great clubs in great leagues in the past. He has the skills and abilities. The last two games were good progress, now we have to keep it up. “It is very good, but at Manchester United good is not good enough.”