Manchester United are set to pocket £40m from selling Alejandro Garnacho to Chelsea this summer.
The Argentine winger has been heading out the door at Carrington all summer long, and now, finally, Manchester United has managed to get him out the door.
Alejandro Garnacho is joining Chelsea for £40m, which is the first sale that Ineos has managed to complete this summer, and in terms of club history, it is also significant.
Behind only three others, Garnacho’s £40m is United’s fourth-highest sale of all time, and ranks second for the largest profit turned, having taken the forward from Atletico Madrid for nothing.
Garnacho will always be a United academy graduate, and while it had to happen, the loss of the winger who once promised to be a star at the club needs to mean something.
Therefore, the £40m pocketed should be immediately reinvested and used to solve a big problem in Ruben Amorim’s team.
Lucien Agoume in action for Sevilla in La Liga.
Photo by Aitor Alcalde Colomer/Getty Images
Manchester United’s £40m Alejandro Garnacho fee should go straight toward Lucien Agoume
The loss of Garnacho won’t affect United at all, as he has been gone since May, but his sale could end up saving Amorim’s tenure as head coach.
Amorim has wanted a midfielder all summer, with the current group nowhere near good enough in terms of being that athletic destroyer that is needed to help minimise the exposure of the problems in the middle.
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United identified Carlos Baleba as the dream solution in the midfield department; however, he ultimately just costs too much for a deal to be made this summer, and so United should now be looking to secure the signing of the perfect alternative, Lucien Agoume.
Agoume is the ideal Baleba alternative, almost being the same player with their qualities and physical impact in midfield.
Sofascore infographic of head-to-head stats between Carlos Baleba and Lucien Agoume
Sofascore infographic.
While Baleba is quite clearly the more polished and all-around better version of Sevilla’s Agoume, the price difference and possibility of completing a deal in time to make a difference for the 2025/26 season.
Agoume has a release clause of £35m this summer, which could work out to be an absolute bargain for Ineos in midfield as he offers a huge upgrade on both Casemiro and Manuel Ugarte.
The system Amorim is currently deploying demands a lot of the defensive midfielder, with a lot of ground needing to be covered, which Agoume is capable of doing with his size and speed, making him a defensive midfielder with all the tools to shine in the Premier League.
Lucien Agoume could end up becoming the bargain of the summer for Manchester United
Whether it was Baleba or Agoume, or another left-field option, United simply cannot go the rest of the campaign without an athletic and physical midfielder being added.
Marco Silva called out Amorim’s midfield set-up after the draw with Fulham last weekend, and while adding a player with the traits of Agoume wouldn’t solve the system deficiencies, it would disguise them a lot better.
With more legs in midfield, Amorim’s system would function a whole lot better, and Agoume would allow Bruno Fernandes and Kobbie Mainoo to both look more comfortable in midfield.
Agoume for £35m might end up looking like an absolute bargain, as in theory it should completely transform the way United play football both offensively and defensively.
United have shown interest in Agoume all summer, now it is time to formalise it with the upgrade desperately needed.