Alejandro Garnacho’s future continues to be the talk of the town with Chelsea and Napoli chasing the Manchester United wonderkid’s signature.
INEOS were forced to put him up for sale due to PSR concerns and it would be a huge blow to lose the Argentine, who was deemed untouchable not too long ago.
It would be even greater jolt should a direct domestic rival acquire him in this window. Which is why the new co-owners have a different price for the Blues.
Napoli had seen their €50 million formal bid get rejected with United eyeing up to €80 million from the Argentina international’s sale.
Chelsea will have to pay £80 million for Garnacho
But for the team from Stamford Bridge, United will only entertain offers of £80 million or €95 million as per L’Equipe, which contradicts recent reports which had stated Chelsea could win the race by paying a measly €70 million.
The London side are set to ramp up their interest in the 20-year-old with less than five days to go for the January window to close.
“The Argentine international is courted by Naples but also, and above all, by Chelsea. The Blues have been discussing for several days to find a solution with Manchester United.
The leaders of the London club plan to return to the charge in the coming hours. United’s demands are significant: £80m, or €95m.”
The only way for Chelsea to afford such a huge outlay is if Christopher Nkunku were to depart on a permanent deal this month. Bayern Munich have their eyes on the Frenchman, as do United but they can only offer a loan exit.
Nkunku sale required for such an outlay
It looks increasingly likely that Garnacho will remain at Old Trafford with the versatile winger said to love the club and initially, he had no interest in jumping ship midway into the season.
His mind changed once Ruben Amorim came onboard with the former Atletico Madrid starlet believing he does not fit in with the Portuguese’s system.
In any case, Amorim has been offering him more and more minutes recently which shows there might be a case for him to stay and fight for his place.
United are only open to a sale for a 48-hour window after which they will block all exits. In case, he does depart Bayern Munich’s Mathys Tel has been lined up as a potential replacement.
Feature image Eddie Keogh via Getty Images
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Ayantan Chowdhury
Ayantan has worked for 10 years in the Indian sports media industry, writing for the biggest newspapers and websites but his heart was always set on writing about his favourite club. Currently an editor at The Peoples Person. You can follow him on X: @ayantanc_25
