Chelsea have reached an agreement with Manchester United to sign winger Alejandro Garnacho in a deal worth £40m. The transfer, which includes a 10 per cent sell-on clause, marks United’s fourth-largest sale in history and their biggest-ever transfer of an academy graduate.
The agreement was finalised after both clubs reached a compromise over Garnacho’s valuation. United initially priced the 20-year-old at £50m, but Chelsea were unwilling to meet that figure. Negotiations began with Chelsea’s opening bid of £25m, before the two sides settled on £40m. United view the deal as a pragmatic decision, securing their largest transfer fee in five years.
Garnacho, who had been pushing for a move, turned down offers from other clubs as he prioritised joining Chelsea. The Argentine winger was informed at the end of last season that he could leave and has not been training with Ruben Amorim’s first-team squad.
Speaking earlier this summer, United manager Ruben Amorim addressed Garnacho’s situation, saying:
“You can understand and you can see he’s a really talented boy, and sometimes things don’t work out. You cannot explain specifically what it is. But I have the feeling, I think it’s clear that Garnacho wants a different thing with a different leadership, and I can understand that. So I think it’s not a problem. Sometimes you adapt to one guy, you have the connection. Other times, you want a new challenge, so we try to make everything OK to all the parts. To the club, to the coach and to the players. It’s a natural thing in football.”
The move is expected to be finalised in the coming days, with Garnacho set to undergo medicals before officially joining Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea squad.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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