‘Best team in the world’ – Garnacho seals Chelsea move

Alejandro Garnacho from Manchester United has been signed for $40 million by Chelsea.

The 21-year-old has a long-term commitment at Stamford Bridge that will continue until 2032.

Garnacho described joining this great club as “an incredible moment for my family and I.”

“I’m eager to get going,” I said. I watched the Club World Cup, and to join the world’s best team is special. “We are the best team in the world,” I said.

Enzo Maresca, Blues manager, weighs the importance of Garnacho’s signing.

At a press conference in August, the Italian revealed that signing a central defender and a left winger capable of supplying Gittens were his top transfer priorities.

Maresca was given the task of working with Maresca’s existing defensive options after the club only granted one of his requests, adding an additional attacker.

Enter Garnacho, who has been a long-term target since Carlos Cambeiro and Quique de Lucas were seen in person at Stamford Bridge in late January.

Chelsea allegedly tried delaying tactics to lower the Argentine’s price while attempting to fill a spot for Jackson, Nkunku, and Tyrique George to fill a void in the squad while working to fill his boots by selling him, despite knowing he was available.

Garnacho has made 144 senior appearances for United since making his debut in April 2022. No United player won possession of the final third of last season more frequently than he did undoubtedly because he worked so hard off the ball.

However, he frequently comes under fire for being a waste in front of the goal.

Garnacho has scored 27 goals in his club’s history, one goal per every 5 3 games, and has twice his average double-double in each of the last two seasons. In the previous campaign, he made six Premier League appearances, which isn’t a bad thing for a United team that finished in 15th place.

Garnacho, however, had the fourth-lowest conversion rate of 7.1% among all forward players who attempted 84 league shots in 2024-25. His fifth-lowest expected goals per shot was also included, suggesting that when he does pull the trigger, it’s frequently from a less likely-than-expected scoring position.

Garnacho’s future at United has been the subject of a lot of conjecture since his exile from Manchester City in December of last year.

When the Argentina international was about to start a Europa League match with Viktoria Plzen, manager Ruben Amorim felt he was disregarding instructions.

Garnacho’s exile only lasted one game, in contrast to Marcus Rashford. But he didn’t start over for another month. By that point, Chelsea had already shown signs of interest, including a trip to Stamford Bridge from the players’ agents for their match against Wolves.

Garnacho was disappointed that the deal didn’t happen, even though it was close.

Compromiscing was only going to last for so long because Amorim doesn’t use wide forwards, which the player feels is best.

When Garnacho was left out of the Europa League final starting lineup, Amorim questioned why he had been chosen, prompting a critical social media post from his brother Roberto and a post-match interview from the player.

Garnacho was advised by the United coach to look for another club in response.