
Manchester United
Premier League • England
Romano reveals how close Man Utd came to selling Garnacho after confirmed bid and Chelsea U-turn

Why Manchester United retained Alejandro Garnacho has been revealed, with transfer guru Fabrizio Romano shedding light on how close a sale came and Chelsea’s late pivot in their plans for the final third.
Man Utd were open to selling Garnacho in the winter window, though by no means were they pushing the 20-year-old out.
United’s motivation for opening the door to a sale were purely financial. As a homegrown player and valued at £60m, the proceeds from a sale would’ve been logged as ‘pure profit’ on the books and greatly widened their scope for new signings.
However, the Premier League’s winter window deadline came and went on Monday night without Garnacho taking flight.
Napoli and Chelsea were the two clubs who showed concrete interest in the player. Napoli even bid £42m on the back of selling Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to PSG.
However, Napoli ultimately signed AC Milan’s Noah Okafor (loan with €23m option to buy) to fill the void on the left wing instead. Chelsea, meanwhile, altered their plans for the final third at the last minute that ensured a bid for Garnacho never arrived.
And speaking on his YouTube channel, Fabrizio Romano clarified the situation when revealing Garnacho never came close to leaving after Man Utd stuck to their guns on their €70m/£60m price tag.
“Alejandro Garnacho had the opportunity to go to Napoli,” began Romano. “But it was never really close because Napoli could only offer €50m (roughly £42m) and Man Utd always said we start from €70m (roughly £60m) – same [price] as Kvaratskhelia.
“So that’s why the deal didn’t advance at any point. There was an interest but that’s it.
“And also important to say Chelsea considered Garnacho but then they decided to continue with the current squad, to let Joao Felix go (AC Milan), to keep Christopher Nkunku at the club, and to invest up front in the summer.”
Ruben Amorim stance on keeping Alejandro Garnacho
As mentioned, a Garnacho sale would’ve been extra lucrative for United given his homegrown status.
But with the club content to add just Patrick Dorgu to Ruben Amorim’s first-team options, the need and motivations for selling Garnacho quickly disappeared.
And according to Amorim himself, keeping Garnacho at Old Trafford was the manager’s preferred outcome anyway.
“I want players like Kobbie [Mainoo] and Garnacho [to stay],” said Amorim late last week when asked if United must make difficult decisions in the final stages of the window.
“The focus is that we have to improve our academy. And you have to bring more [through].
“That is something that all the clubs in England have to take advantage of. The players that come from their academies. To play, to feel the shirt, but also to sell them. So our focus is to bring more [through].”
Attackers United took a lot at in case Garnacho were let go included Mathys Tel, Christopher Nkunku and Leon Bailey.
Tel ultimately wound up at Tottenham, though a secret clause that can prevent Tottenham from turning their loan deal permanent in the summer has emerged.
Latest Man Utd news – Loan deal imminent / Rashford finished
In other news, Man Utd and PSV Eindhoven will finalise Tyrell Malacia’s loan switch later today (Tuesday).
The Eredivisie’s winter window remains open until tonight and Malacia has already travelled over to the Netherlands to finalise the move. Per the MEN, an option to buy is ‘expected’ to be included.
Elsewhere, The Guardian claim Marcus Rashford has no future back at Old Trafford even if Aston Villa don’t activate the £40m option to buy in their loan agreement.
The report stated: ‘Marcus Rashford is extremely unlikely to play competitively for Manchester United again even if Ruben Amorim is no longer the head coach, with the relationship between the forward and his boyhood club near irreparable.
‘It is understood, too, that there is no call-back clause in the forward’s loan terms with Aston Villa should he start to score prolifically.’