“There was a possibility”: Fabrizio Romano claims United were offered red-hot English wonderkid in the summer

The Alejandro Garnacho saga rumbled on in Ruben Amorim’s debut season with numerous reports of a fall-out between the pair doing the rounds almost every week. The Argentine’s attitude, and social media activity did not help, and his post-match comments after the club’s heartbreaking Europa League final defeat proved to be the final straw. Manchester United tried to sell him to a European side instead of strengthening a direct rival, but the Carrington graduate was adamant he would only join Chelsea. And the Blues kept trying to lowball the Red Devils while also offering swap deal options instead of paying what United wanted. Not Lavia but Tyrique George offered to United Christopher Nkunku was one name that the Stamford Bridge side tried to offload for quite a while, but INEOS were never interested in the Frenchman. Given Amorim’s need for a midfielder, Romeo Lavia was also offered as per recent reports, and despite his injury record, it would have made a lot of sense for INEOS to bring him onboard. However, Fabrizio Romano has now claimed that the Belgian was never offered to the 20-time English league champions. It was Cobham wonderkid Tyrique George who was proposed as part of a swap deal arrangement. “My information is that Chelsea and Man Utd never ever discussed for Romeo Lavia,” Romano explained on his YouTube channel. “According to my sources, Chelsea trust Lavia. “Obviously he’s having several injuries and so Chelsea’s staff are doing their best to try improve his physical condition, they already did a fantastic job with Reece James. The mission is to do the same now with Lavia. “I can reveal to you that at the beginning of the conversation [for Garnacho] there was a possibility for Tyrique George to be involved in the deal with Man Utd. United’s decision made sense “But I’m talking about the beginning of June, that was very early in the transfer window and nothing happened with that one, and so it was a straight transfer for Garnacho. But Romeo Lavia was NOT part of the swap deal conversations.” The 19-year-old has impressed for Enzo Maresca’s side this term, scoring three times while also providing one assist. He is also versatile and can play all across the frontline. But United turned down the offer as they had signed three attackers in the summer — Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo, and Benjamin Sesko. The first two are versatile stars capable of playing in the same positions as the young Englishman. Hence, it was decided not to pursue such a deal. As things stand, bringing in a young attacker is not what INEOS are looking at currently. They will likely try and bring in a midfielder if the opportunity presents itself in January. Feature image Clive Mason via Getty Images The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social Ayantan Chowdhury After failing to become a professional footballer, Ayantan switched to the next best thing: writing about the greatest football club in the world. He has extensive sports journalism experience, having worked for over 10 years in the Indian sports media industry, writing for the biggest newspapers and websites. Currently an editor at The Peoples Person. You can follow him on X: @ayantanc_25