Chelsea are now racing Arsenal for the signature of a "world-class" forward, who has just relocated to London, with his club open to a sale.
Blues set sights on Garnacho alternative
The Blues have long been expected to sign Manchester United's Alejandro Garnacho, but the deal hasn't shown much sign of progression recently, despite Fabrizio Romano stating there is still a great deal of confidence that it will go through.
Romano said: "Chelsea expect 100% that Alejandro Garnacho deal to happen. "I fully think we’ll have a “here we go” this week. There were some rumours to include Tyrique George as part of the conversation between Manchester United and Chelsea. This option was already stopped a few weeks ago so at the moment Tyrique George is not part of those conversations as of now."
However, Tottenham Hotspur's failed pursuit of Eberechi Eze underlines that anything can happen until a deal is signed and sealed, and the Blues still remain in the market for potential alternative options.
That is according to a report from Caught Offside, which states Chelsea are now monitoring Atalanta's Ademola Lookman, who is viewed as a back-up option for Garnacho, and there are strong indications that a deal could be possible.
The Italian club are willing to sell Lookman this summer, given that he has already handed in an official transfer request, and they are looking to receive a fee of £45m, although there could be competition from the likes of Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur.
Atalanta's Ademola Lookman in action
Atalanta's Ademola Lookman in action
Interestingly, it is also revealed the 27-year-old has just relocated to London, which indicates a move to Stamford Bridge could appeal, and having removed all Atalanta content from his social media channels, it is clear the forward's time with the Serie A side is coming to an end.
"World-class" Lookman could be better signing than Garnacho
Garnacho is the younger of the two players, at just 21-years-old, but that is probably one of the only things the Manchester United star has in his favour, with the Nigerian outperforming him across a number of key attacking metrics over the past year.
Average per 90 Alejandro Garnacho Ademola Lookman
Non-penalty goals 0.20 0.63
Assists 0.14 0.20
Shot-creating actions 3.58 5.51
Successful take-ons 1.30 1.72
The Atalanta star, who has been lauded as "world-class" by the BBC's John Bennett, has also proven he can deliver in big matches, most memorably scoring a hat-trick against Bayer Leverkusen in his side's 3-0 thrashing of the German club in the 2024 Europa League final.
It appears as though Chelsea will only target Lookman if the deal for Garnacho falls through, but they should perhaps reconsider, given that the Nigeria international is clearly a big-game player, and a £45m fee for his services seems very fair.