Alejandro Garnacho gets brutal message ahead of Chelsea's Champions League clash

Adebayo Akinfenwa actually hopes that Alejandro Garnacho will be "just average" at Chelsea this season.

The Argentine had a challenging time finding his form with Manchester United before being deemed surplus to requirements by Ruben Amorim. Consequently, he found himself making a £40million move to Chelsea this summer, with aspirations of hitting his stride in the English capital under Enzo Maresca.

However, former Northampton, Wimbledon and Wycombe striker Akinfenwa, who is a long-time Liverpool supporter, hopes he "doesn't tear it up" with his new club. Speaking to Mirror Football via , the 43-year-old said: "I ain't going to lie, I hope he doesn't even tear it up for Chelsea.

• Jose Mourinho already made two Premier League comeback terms clear as 'return agreed'
• Jose Mourinho set for Chelsea reunion and Stamford Bridge return

"I'll tell you this now, I hope he doesn't tear it up. I don't want to wish bad on him, but I hope he's just average. And the Liverpool players, I want to tear up everything."

Akinfenwa also shed light on why he believes Garnacho struggled to make an impact with United before moving on to Chelsea, suggesting that the pressure of playing for one of the world's biggest clubs may have been too much for the 21-year-old.

He added: "The one thing I'd say is I can empathise, but I don't know the level of scrutiny at these top clubs.

"I know the levels of the clubs I was at and sometimes you're like, 'Oh, right.' Just sometimes being in a small city, I remember in Torquay and people knew where I shopped, and it was a running joke. I like my Bourbons and the manager was like, 'Oh, you was in there buying Bourbons.'

"But that's on a small scale. So I couldn't fathom the likes of the pressure that comes with a Chelsea, with a Man United. I think environments play a massive part and with different managers coming in, with the level of scrutiny, I think it's a lot of pressure and some players can deal with it, some players can't. We've all seen it.

"I think Antony left Man United, went to Betis and hit the ground running. Some people may turn around and say, 'No, these footballers need everything to be perfect,' which again, I won't argue that point. But things need to go in your favour.

"That's on a day-to-day, especially being young, and having the weight and the pressure of the likes of Man United on his, and you do, you need a consistent base."

Akinfenwa also hinted at fundamental problems at United that could significantly impact the performances of their most promising stars, reinforcing the notion that the club is missing a solid foundation for nurturing young talent. He said: "You need a core support system, which is like, 'This is what we play, this is how we are.'

"Sometimes we'll be like, 'Oh, look, very emotion based.' But if you've got that core system that always allows, 'Look, this is the culture we set, this is what we do regardless, win, lose or draw.' I don't think Man United's had that for a long time. I think with [Marcus] Rashford, I think with [Jadon] Sancho, and I think with Garnacho, I think these are players where [this is clear].

"Again, [Scott] McTominay's left on one at Napoli. So these are elements where you're talking about, 'Okay, you know what, fundamentally, at its core, there's something not quite right with United.'"

Garnacho made his Chelsea debut from the substitutes' bench on Saturday as the Blues were held to a 2-2 stalemate by Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium, coming on in the 79th minute. He crucially lost track of his man, Fabio Carvalho, whilst defending at the far post for the injury time leveller.

Nevertheless, he could be afforded greater opportunities to shine when Chelsea face Bayern Munich in their Champions League curtain-raiser on Wednesday evening.

It comes as to become the brand's inaugural Bar Breaker in a fresh new campaign. Discussing his position, Akinfenwa said: "I'm humbled to be the first official Bar Breaker for Tony's Chocolonely. You know their ethos, their look, chunky – I hear that people be struggling to break how chunky it is.

"So they have to come to Mr Beast mode to try and help the nation – both break the bar and then also try and get people to get on board with their mission. I do think it's a nice fusion, it's a nice balance. The official Bar Breaker!"

Adebayo 'The Beast’ Akinfenwa has been named Tony’s Chocolonely’s first official Bar Breaker. The Beast is motivating the nation to flex their thumb muscles to help more people enjoy more of the chunky, unequally divided bars with ease - ultimately bringing more people along on the brand’s mission to end exploitation in cocoa.

Find out more on the campaign and join the mission via the Tony’s Chocolonely website .