Chelsea have agreed a £40m fee with Manchester United to sign Alejandro Garnacho.
The deal, which includes a 10 per cent sell-on fee, represents the fourth-largest sale in United’s history after those of Cristiano Ronaldo, Romelu Lukaku and Angel Di Maria – and the club’s largest ever sale of an academy graduate.
A compromise over Garnacho’s valuation had to be reached as United valued him at £50m – which was more than Chelsea were prepared to pay.
United negotiated the fee up from an initial Chelsea offer of £25m and are understood to feel it is a good, pragmatic deal, delivering their largest sale fee for five years. They also believe it is a good solution for the player, who has been pushing strongly to leave.
It is understood he leaves with United’s best wishes.
Garnacho turned down offers from other clubs because he wanted to move to Chelsea. The winger was told he could leave at the end of last season and he is not training with Ruben Amorim’s first-team squad.
‘Man Utd very happy with Garnacho business’
Sky Sports News’ Kaveh Solhekol:
“We’ve reported in the past that Chelsea were considering opening bids of £25m.
“I know some Manchester United supporters were very angry with those reports.
“It’s all been sorted out now. It’s a £40m fixed fee and United will also retain a 10 per cent sell-on clause for the player.
“This is a significant deal for United. They are often criticised for not getting enough for players and not making money from selling players.
“This is the largest ever sale for a Manchester United academy product.
“From United’s perspective, they are very, very happy because a £40m fixed fee is a very good deal for them, for a player who didn’t really have a future at the club.”
Amorim: Talented Garnacho has not worked out
Speaking earlier this summer, United boss Amorim said: “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.”
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