Alejandro Garnacho has signed reportedly agreed a Premier League switch from **Man United**to Chelsea.
The Guardian has reported that the transfer will cost the West London club £35 to £40 million. The Red Devils had initially demanded a transfer fee of £50 million earlier in the window, but as deadline day looms, the two teams have agreed on a lower asking price to push the deal through.
Still only 21 years old, the Argentine should have been the future for the Red Devils. But it seems like a problematic personality has obscured the talent he has to work with and forced the hand of the club.
Garnacho gains the role of impactor
Garnacho moved to England from Atletico Madrid in 2020 to complete his sporting education. He spent two years in the academy at Carrington, standing above the rest in the youth ranks, and his chance arrived for playing time with the first team under **Erik ten Hag**in the 2022/23 campaign.
His emergence came at the cost of Anthony Elanga, who would move on to Nottingham Forest. Even then, ten Hag knew he was taking a gamble. After his senior start in the Europa League, the Argentine earned admiration from his boss for his resilience and spirit despite a questionable attitude.
It captured the conundrum that is this 21-year-old. Garnacho is a player full of self-belief, willing to keep going at defences and cause chaos with his persistence. Such endeavour earned him the match winner at the death against **Fulham**in November, the first **Premier League**goal of his career.
In the new year, he would score key goals against **Wolves**and Leeds United, also setting up the winner for Marcus Rashford in the Manchester derby. His impact was often felt off the bench as a wildcard, and the Argentine received a medal for his part in the victorious Carabao Cup campaign.
An unflappable personality tasked with too much duty?
His confidence continued to punctuate his playing time with magical moments. In November 2023, he netted his first Champions League goal away at Galatasaray, goading the crowd. It came days after a flying overhead kick against **Everton**that would be the **Premier League**Goal of the Season.
However, that was also his first league goal of the campaign. That might not be a worry for a player rotating in and out of the squad, but Garnacho missed only two **Premier League**matches that season.
For a 19-year-old to transition so seamlessly into the men's game in terms of fitness is not the norm.
The Argentine was getting through an enormous amount of running week to week with the same bullish attitude whenever he was on the ball. That has its appeals, but without the success in the final third to match the volume of his output, too much weight was on his shoulders to be the difference.
In that sense, the decline of the Red Devils should not have been a shock to supporters. Garnacho grabbed braces against Aston Villa, West Ham, and **Chelsea**that season, also scoring with Kobbie Mainoo in the **FA Cup**final. But both graduates were bright sparks in a season of historic lows.
The relationship splinters once and for all
Garnacho hit 100 appearances for the Red Devils in October, but he was not his old self. After an eighth-place finish, the team saw ten Hag lose his job, and pressure was ramping up. Reluctant to celebrate scoring against Leicester, Bruno Fernandes said his teammate felt he was "losing faith."
The arrival of Ruben Amorim should have lifted the cloud. But it marked the beginning of the end.
Only weeks after his arrival, Amorim dropped Garnacho from the matchday squad for the trip to Man City. He would work his way back into the mix, still appearing 36 times in the Premier League. However, the alliance was fragile, and it fractured fully after the final of the Europa League.
The Argentine was angry to have lost his place in the starting eleven ahead of a 1-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur. He vented his frustration, and Amorim snapped back, sitting him down in the 'bomb squad' with Tyrell Malacia, Jadon Sancho, Antony, and Rashford over the summer.
From a sporting perspective, the limitations were becoming clearer. Garnacho, still only 20, had stalled in terms of output, scoring one fewer goal in the Premier League. He was also the attacker with the worst dribbling success rate across the division, pulling off only 29.2% of his attempts.
There was still enough to see in his game to warrant a longer time at Old Trafford, at least as a squad number. But as soon as he had no part in the cultural reset with Amorim, the decision became final.
His days were numbered, and now he is set to call Stamford Bridge his home in the capital city.