FURY over Alejandro Garnacho's failed January transfer

Carlo Garganese

Updated: 4 Feb 2025 09:36 GMT
4 min read

Alejandro Garnacho, Man Utd, 2024/25 — © IMAGO

Antonio Conte is furious after Napoli's failure to sign an adequate replacement for Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in January.

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Napoli are top of Serie A, three points clear of Inter in second but the reigning champions have a game in hand.

The chances of Napoli winning the Scudetto took a blow last month when they sold star man Kvaratskhelia to PSG for €75 million.

Napoli and Conte's top target to replace Kvaratskhelia was Garnacho, with extensive talks with Man Utd for over a fornight over a deal.

However, despite Napoli placing two bids for the player, they never went higher than €55m, which was well short of United's valuation.

As a result, Napoli tried to sign second target Karim Adeyemi from Borussia Dortmund but the winger rejected them.

Napoli then worked through other potential players, such as Fenerbahce loaneee Allan Saint-Maximin before ending up with AC Milan reserve Noah Okafor on loan.

It is widely reported in the Italian media that Conte is furious with Napoli's failure to adequately replace Kvaratskhelia and will blame the club if they now don't go on and win the Scudetto.

Conte already publicly criticised the club on Saturday for not signing a replacement yet, but now the transfer window has passed with Okafor arriving in his place.

"I said that the transfer window had to bring me the same level of team," Conte said. "We lost an important player, and today he has not been replaced."

Garnacho had reached an agreement with Napoli over personal terms. He had said yes to a contract until 2029 with the option for a further year until 2030.

There were also talks with Chelsea but in the end the Argentine has been forced to stay at Man Utd for the rest of the season.

Garnacho has been unsettled at Old Trafford for some time, and has now shown his best form under new manager Ruben Amorim.

Garnacho at Man Utd

The 20-year-old Garnacho was one of the few bright lights of Erik ten Hag’s tenure at Manchester United.

© IMAGO - Garnacho (left) exploded in the previous two seasons

He was one of the breakout stars in the Premier League in 2022-23, making eight goal contributions from 10 starts and 29 appearances.

He had a string of memorable performances, including the winner against Real Sociedad in the Europa League which made him the youngest foreign player to ever score for Man Utd in European competition.

Garnacho broke a string of records, and also starred in the Manchester derby, assisting Marcus Rashford’s winner in the 2-1 victory over Man City.

Last season Garnacho continued to impress, with 10 goals in all competitions. He scored in the 2-1 FA Cup final win over Man City, hit a memorable brace in the 4-3 victory over Chelsea and scored the goal of the season with a stunning bicycle kick against Everton.

This season Garnacho has seen his star shine less bright, with just three goals and one assist in 23 Premier League games.