Manchester United winger Alejandro Garnacho will reportedly make his first start for Argentina on Tuesday evening.
While the 19-year-old has long been touted as a future star for both his club and country, it has taken until this season for the youngster to have full faith placed in him by Erik ten Hag.
A total of 29 starts and nine substitute outings have been made in all competitions, with Garnacho contributing seven goals and four assists.
Garnacho may be regarded as a key player by Ten Hag, but that is not yet the case with Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni.
Although the former Atletico Madrid youngster was handed his senior debut just before his 19th birthday last summer, he has not featured for more than 45 minutes in a single match.
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However, according to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, that will change in the early hours of Wednesday morning (GMT time) when Garnacho lines up in the Argentina XI for the friendly with Costa Rica.
Romano says that Scaloni is eager to see how the playmaker fares during the game in Los Angeles as he finalises plans for the Copa America later in the year.
In his four appearances for his country thus far, Garnacho has accumulated just 96 minutes, with his debut coming in a friendly against Australia in Beijing where he featured for the final 16 minutes.
That was followed by a 30-minute outing against Indonesia in Jakarta, but he would make just one five-minute appearance during the four World Cup qualifiers that followed.
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Garnacho was not present in the squad that defeated Brazil in their final game of 2023, but he was introduced for the second half of the friendly versus El Salvador last week.
La Albiceleste were already two goals to the good before netting a third shortly after the break, but a more youthful side for the second period could not add any further goals as Argentina settled for a 3-0 victory.
The planned appearance for Garnacho could have ramifications for Man United with the game on the West coast of the United States not due to finish until 4.45am on Wednesday morning in England.
United's next Premier League contest comes away at Brentford on Saturday evening, leaving Garnacho will three-and-a-half days to encounter a long-haul flight and recover in time for the fixture in London.
Darren Plant
