Alejandro Garnacho with Chelsea and Man Utd badges
Manchester United star Alejandro Garnacho
Chelsea have been given a major boost in their pursuit of Alejandro Garnacho as Manchester United have significantly dropped their demands for the winger, according to reports.
Garnacho’s future at Man Utd has been in doubt ever since Ruben Amorim was appointed as Erik ten Hag’s replacement. Garnacho ideally likes to play as a left winger but Amorim instead uses wing-backs and two No 10s.
The player ended up convincing Amorim that he could operate as an attacking midfielder and finished the campaign with 11 goals and 10 assists in 58 appearances.
Crucially, though, Garnacho was dropped from the starting XI for the Europa League final defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.
The Argentina star quickly sparked rumours of an Old Trafford exit as he responded to Amorim’s selection decision by telling reporters: “I played every round to help the team reach the final, and today I only got 20 minutes.”
When asked about a potential summer move, Garnacho added: “I don’t know. I will try to enjoy the summer and then see what happens.”
It has since been claimed that Amorim has booted Garnacho out of his first-team squad and urged United to engineer a sale.
Chelsea made contact for the wide man in January and maintain an interest in landing him.
It emerged on Saturday that United are prepared to slash their asking price for Garnacho from £70million (€82m / $96m) to just £40m (€47m / $55m).
As per The Mirror, this price drop has now happened. United chiefs feel this is the only way they can get Garnacho out of the club following his latest ‘controversial decision’.
The 20-year-old has been pictured wearing an Aston Villa shirt with Marcus Rashford’s name on the back. Rashford is another player United are trying to sell this summer to increase their transfer kitty.
United are coming to terms with the fact no club will meet their ideal £70m price for Garnacho, due to the ‘public nature of his fall-out with Amorim’. This has prompted his new cut-price valuation.
The news will certainly be of interest to Chelsea. The Blues are searching for two new left wingers and could swoop for Garnacho after Jamie Gittens has been signed from Borussia Dortmund.
Alejandro Garnacho set to leave Man Utd
Coincidentally, Garnacho may end up replacing Jadon Sancho at Stamford Bridge. Sancho spent last term on loan at Chelsea from United, but Enzo Maresca’s side paid a £5m (€6m / $7m) penalty fee so they did not have to sign him permanently.
Mykhailo Mudryk is another left winger on Chelsea’s books, though he is still waiting on the result of his B sample after being provisionally suspended for failing a drugs test.
Sources confirmed to TEAMtalk on Tuesday that Chelsea are poised to make a final decision on whether to bid for Garnacho this summer.
We understand Chelsea are willing to pay £55-60m (up to €70m / $82m) for the 20-year-old, so they will be delighted if they can get him for the far lower price of £40m.
Chelsea admire Garnacho’s ability and high potential, though they want to make sure he will fit into the dressing room well before committing to a move.
Garnacho is very much a wanted man, as sources state that other major clubs such as Villa, AC Milan, Napoli and Juventus are all tracking his situation too.
Napoli came closest to signing Garnacho in January and news of his reduced price tag will give them a significant lift ahead of further negotiations.
Should Chelsea either miss out on Garnacho or decide against making an offer, then they could pursue Lyon winger Malick Fofana instead.
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