Considering their disastrous campaign last season, it would be fair to say that it's been a pretty good summer of business for Manchester United and for director of football, Jason Wilcox.
They've dramatically improved Ruben Amorim's frontline with the additions of Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha, and Benjamin Sesko, and overseen a few much-needed departures.
For example, while they've been unable to sell Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford is out of the squad, Rasmus Hojlund is close to joining Napoli, and, arguably most importantly, the disruptive Alejandro Garnacho joined Chelsea for a fairly sizable £40m plus a 10% sell-on clause.
Garnacho-Man-Utd-Lyon
And now, in even more good news, the Red Devils are being linked with a deadline-day move for someone who could be the perfect upgrade.
Manchester United eye deadline-day move for Garnacho upgrade
According to a recent report from Caught Offside, Manchester United are one of several top-flight teams interested in Fermin Lopez.
Alongside the Red Devils, the report claims Chelsea, Newcastle United, Bayern Munich and Tottenham Hotspur are all keen on the Spanish gem.
In addition to facing considerable competition, United will have to pay a substantial amount to secure their target, with Barcelona reportedly seeking offers of up to €90m, equivalent to approximately £78m.
With that said, Lopez would likely be worth the effort to sign, as not only is he an extraordinary talent in his own right, but a significant upgrade on Garnacho as well.
How Lopez compares to Garnacho
So, comparing Lopez to Garnacho to determine who is the bigger talent is actually relatively straightforward, as, like the Argentine, the Spaniard is a versatile attacker who primarily plays in attacking midfield and off the left wing.
Fermin Lopez
In other words, we can take a look at their output and underlying numbers from last season and directly compare them to one another, and when it comes to the former, the Barça gem comes out on top.
In 46 appearances, totalling just 2039 minutes, the "creative" star, as dubbed by analyst Ben Mattinson, scored eight goals and provided ten assists.
That means he managed to average a goal involvement every 2.55 games, or every 113.27 minutes, which is undeniably impressive for someone his age.
In contrast, the Red Devils' former troublemaker scored 11 goals and provided 10 assists in 58 appearances last season, totalling 3568 minutes, which comes out to a less impressive average of a goal involvement every 2.76 games, or 169.90 minutes.
FC Barcelona's Fermin Lopez in action with Athletic Bilbao's Mikel Jauregizar
FC Barcelona's Fermin Lopez in action with Athletic Bilbao's Mikel Jauregizar
Unfortunately for the Madrid-born ace, the comparison is just as one-sided when we take a look under the hood at their underlying numbers.
For example, the "spectacular" Spaniard, as dubbed by former manager Xavi, comes out ahead in most relevant metrics such as expected and actual non-penalty goals plus assists, progressive passes, key passes, passes into the penalty area, shot and goal-creating actions, and more, all per 90.
Lopez vs Garnacho
Statistics
Non-Penalty Expected G+As
Non-Penalty G+As
Progressive Passes
Progressive Carries
Passing Accuracy
Key Passes
Passes into the Final Third
Passes into the Penalty Area
Crosses into the Penalty Area
Shot-Creating Actions
Goal-Creating Actions
Successful Take-Ons
Ball Recoveries
All League Stats via FBref for 24/25
These numbers help to show that the El Campillo-born dynamo is a far more dangerous goalscorer, a considerably more accomplished creator, and an attacker who is also a more effective dribbler.
In other words, Lopez is simply a far better player than Garnacho and would therefore be a significant upgrade for United.
Fermin Lopez
Therefore, Wilcox and the Red Devils should be doing all they can to sign him before the window slams shut at 7pm.