Transfer deadline day came and went with no major moves for Manchester United, at the end of what had a mixed window for the Red Devils.
Just one new senior player was added to the Old Trafford ranks in January, as Danish international wing-back Patrick Dorgu arrived in a £25million move from Lecce.
Perhaps more significant were two loan departures, as £86million 2022 signing Antony joined Real Betis for the rest of the season, while Marcus Rashford left for Aston Villa after his relationship with manager Ruben Amorim appeared to break down.
Why Alejandro Garnacho has remained at Manchester United
One player who did not go anywhere in the January window, despite plenty of rumoured interest, was winger Alejandro Garnacho. The 20-year-old had been linked to both Napoli and Chelsea amid reports that the Red Devils would be willing sellers.
With Amorim’s side currently festering in the bottom half of the table, having lost 11 of their 24 Premier League games so far this season, it is clear that their current rebuilding process is still some way from being completed.
Argentina international Garnacho was ranked as one of the most exciting teenagers in world football by FourFourTwo last year and is classified as homegrown talent, meaning he is one of the club’s most valuable assets. This placed him as a potential candidate to be sold to fund future signings, but - for now, at least - remains at the club.
With the window now shut, transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has detailed how close Garnacho was to the Old Trafford exit door.
“Alejandro Garnacho had the opportunity to go to Napoli,” Romano said on his YouTube channel. “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.”
In FourFourTwo’s opinion, Garnacho, who is valued at €50million by Transfermarkt, could again find himself subject to exit talk in the summer, purely down to the mess that the Manchester United squad finds itself in.
It is clear that significant work needs to be done to the playing squad if it is to fit Amorim’s playing style and the current PSR rules unfortunately mean that selling’ homegrown’ players like Garnacho is likely to end up being the most effective way to fund new signings and turn around the Old Trafford tanker from a financial standpoint.
