Man Utd plan STUNNING Garnacho-Nkunku swap

Carlo Garganese

Updated: 29 Jan 2025 11:16 GMT
4 min read

Manchester United are considering a sensational swap deal that would see Alejandro Garnacho move to Chelsea in exchange for Christopher Nkunku or Joao Felix.

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Man Utd have been in extensive talks with Napoli to sell Garnacho but have struggled to agree on a transfer fee with the Serie A side.

As a result, Give Me Sport report that Man Utd are looking at other options to allow them to offload Garnacho.

GMS claim that United are planning a possible cash-plus-player swap deal with Chelsea that will see Garnacho move to the Blues and either Christopher Nkunku or Joao Felix move the other way.

Chelsea are interested themselves in Garnacho but have yet to make an official bid for the winger. Meanwhile, Nkunku is very much admired by Ruben Amorim, who believes he is ideal for his formation.

Nkunku is also liked by Bayern Munich, while Joao Felix has interest from Aston Villa and AC Milan.

Napoli remain the favourites for Garnacho but are running out of time to do a deal with Man Utd.

They are in the market for a replacement for Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who joined PSG last week for €75 million.

Their priority target is Garnacho, who they have been in talks with for well over a week.

However, there is still distance between Napoli and Man Utd's valuation of the player.

Napoli have already had a €45m bid rejected, and there have been reports they have since increased this offer to €55m which has also been rejected.

United are understood to be demanding €65m to sell.

Napoli and Man Utd have resumed talks this week and are hoping to come to an agreement to complete the transfer.

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

Napoli had also been in talks for Borussia Dortmund's Karim Adeyemi as a backup plan for Garnacho but those talks have now ended.

Garnacho has been unsettled at Old Trafford for some time.

Amorim sensationally dropped him for the Manchester Derby but he has played four of the last five games.

The imminent signing of Patrick Dorgu, though, is likely to see his squad status drop.

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 22 Premier League games.