Alejandro Garnacho’s Chelsea remain in the Champions League, but he has just received a haunting reminder of his Man Utd transfer mistake due to a demolition elsewhere.
The transfer saga of Alejandro Garnacho last summer was one of the more frustrating times for Man Utd fans just wanting to move on.
Despite interest from many teams, Garnacho’s mind seemed set at Chelsea, a decision that doesn’t look so great right now.
Yes, he is still in the Champions League (albeit below Man Utd in the league!), but it’s impossible for him to shake off the feeling of “what could have been” because he clearly made a transfer mistake.
Michael Olise of Bayern Munich celebrates scoring his team's second goal with teammates Kingsley Coman, Alphonso Davies and Leon Goretzka during the Bundesliga match between FC Bayern München and VfL Wolfsburg at Allianz Arena on January 18, 2025
Photo by Sebastian Widmann/Getty Images
Will Man Utd ever REGRET selling Alejandro Garnacho?
Who was more to blame in this saga?
Alejandro Garnacho split image in Chelsea and Man Utd colours
Credit: Chris Lee – Chelsea FC/Chelsea FC/Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images
Bayern Munich are Alejandro Garnacho’s haunting mistake
Garnacho made a big celebration of joining the “Club World Champions” when he signed for Chelsea, but everyone knew at the time that it just wasn’t true.
The way Chelsea are perennially stuck in rebuilding mode made them a poor choice for a developing player like Garnacho.
That choice made even less sense considering Bayern Munich were one of the teams interested in him.
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He rejected Bayern at the time, and one didn’t even need the benefit of hindsight to understand that choosing Chelsea over Bayern was a dicey move.
Since that rejection, hindsight has made that “dicey” move feel straight up like a blunder, becoming a haunting reminder of Garnacho’s transfer mistake.
Vincent Kompany has flown like a rocket at Bayern, earning a reputation as a “winger whisperer”, with Michael Olise up to 41 goals and assists in 37 games after his latest masterclass against Atalanta in the Champions League.
While Chelsea have already changed coaches, and Garnacho is still not a first-XI player, Kompany is unlocking new levels in his wide players and his team with every game.
It’s not an exaggeration to think that Garnacho would probably be sitting on at least 20 goals and assists at Bayern, even if he didn’t start every game, like his situation at Chelsea.
Instead, he’s already the subject of transfer rumours, not starting at Chelsea, getting booed by every away fan following, while the team he rejected looks tailor-made for him.
Man Utd’s £40m plan looks like a masterstroke now
There were a lot of eyebrows raised when United sold Garnacho for £40m, with Man Utd fans convinced that the Argentine was a huge bargain.
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However, less than a season into his Chelsea spell, that fee looks like a masterstroke, because Garnacho is still the same player who broke through at United.
He is a willing runner with the ball who always looks to go forward, but that’s basically it about him as a player.
The occasional goal or assist raises his stock for a game, before he’s back to doing his usual thing of running into blind alleys and ceding possession.
United also have a sell-on clause, so if Chelsea, by some sorcery, do it again and get a profit on his sale, United would be entitled to even more money for him.
For a player who hasn’t developed at all since breaking through, that £40m plan is increasingly starting to look like a masterstroke instead of a missed opportunity.
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