Unai Emery was visibly angry with Aston Villa playmaker Emi Buendia following his first-half display at Old Trafford, as journalist Ashley Preece spotted the two in a heated exchange on the touchline.
How has Buendia played for Aston Villa?
The Argentina international has had an inconsistent season, racking up five goals and three assists in 36 appearances across all competitions.
He had a first half to forget as Villa went behind at Old Trafford, completing just 53% of his passes and losing possession nine times, much to Emery's annoyance.
The Spaniard has done a magnificent job since arriving at Villa Park, helping take the Villans from relegation candidates to European contenders, but it appeared as though Buendia was not following the manager's strict instructions.
Preece highlighted the exchange between the two while covering the game for BirminghamLive, claiming that Emery may have been annoyed by Buendia's inability to follow his instructions.
He wrote: "The manager calls Buendia over, he's clearly not happy with something. He gestures to his player to keep his head, with the playmaker clearly not following what's being asked."
Does Buendia have a bright future at Villa?
Aston Villa spent a whopping £38m to bring Buendia to the club as one of the replacements for Jack Grealish,
He has provided just nine goals and nine assists in 73 appearances and has not contributed as much to Villa's incredible run as the likes of Ollie Watkins.
If Villa do end up qualifying for Europe, they could look to upgrade on their attacking midfield options, perhaps by reigniting their interest in Arsenal's Emile Smith Rowe.
If they do reinforce in attacking areas, Buendia may the one who loses his starting place, and if this issue with Emery is a sign any strain behind the scenes, he could even be sacrificed from the squad.
Emery has previously clashed with technical attacking stars including Mesut Ozil and Neymar from his spells at Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain respectively, and it remains to be seen whether he would like to continue with the system that deploys Buendia in a No 10 role.
If he does elect to change formation, the Argentinian could be up for the chop, given that the likes of Jacob Ramsey and John McGinn are adapting to his tactics with more ease than the former Norwich star.
His clear inability to retain the ball this weekend may not have done Buendia any favours in trying to stay in Emery's good books going forward.
