ExpandAlejandro Garnacho of Manchester United reacts to a missed chance during the Premier League match against Chelsea at Old Trafford in November 2024. Photograph: Carl Recine/Getty Images
Alejandro Garnacho of Manchester United reacts to a missed chance during the Premier League match against Chelsea at Old Trafford in November 2024. Photograph: Carl Recine/Getty Images
Chelsea have agreed a fee with Manchester United for the signing of Argentina winger Alejandro Garnacho.
Chelsea are expected to pay a £40 million (€46.25 million) fixed fee for the 21-year-old, with United retaining a 10 per cent sell-on fee clause.
The deal will represent United’s fourth-largest sale after the transfers of Cristiano Ronaldo, Romelu Lukaku and Angel Di Maria, and is the largest fee received for a graduate from the club’s academy.
Garnacho will follow Marcus Rashford to become the second member of United’s so-called ‘bomb squad’ of unwanted players to secure a move away from Old Trafford, with Antony, Jadon Sancho and Tyrell Malacia still working away from Ruben Amorim’s first-team squad.
Chelsea had initially offered a fee of £25 million (€29 million) for a player who has scored 26 goals in 144 games for United, but who fell out of favour with Amorim towards the end of last season and was told he could leave the club after being left out of their final Premier League game against Aston Villa.
Garnacho had made pointed remarks to the media after being kept on the bench until the 71st minute of United’s 1-0 Europa League final loss to Tottenham, with his brother Roberto using social media to complain about his situation.
Chelsea have already signed Jamie Gittens, Liam Delap, Joao Pedro and Estevao Willian in a revamp of their attack this summer, and Garnacho is likely to compete with Gittens on the left wing.
The deal for Garnacho comes as Christopher Nkunku closes in on a move to AC Milan in a deal understood to be worth around £36 million (€41.6 million) to Chelsea.