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Jeff Stelling has warned Chelsea over signing Alejandro Garnacho and says the Manchester United winger is the ‘last thing’ they need.
Chelsea have been linked with a surprising move for Garnacho during the January transfer window after the Argentine fell out of favour under new Old Trafford boss Ruben Amorim.
Garnacho was once the most highly-rated young player at Manchester United but his reputation has waned over the last 18 months and he was left out of last month’s derby at the Etihad Stadium.
Amorim suggested he wanted to see more from Garnacho in training and the 20-year-old’s minutes have suffered since the Manchester derby snub.
Garnacho is believed to be open to leaving the Red Devils, who he first joined in 2020 at the age of 16, and has attracted interest from Serie A giants Napoli.
Chelsea reportedly made a surprise enquiry for Garnacho last week and the player’s agent was spotted at Stamford Bridge on Monday night for their 3-1 win over Wolves, fuelling speculation over a potential move to west London.
But former Sky Sports presenter Stelling believes Garnacho is the ‘last thing’ Chelsea need given the surplus of attacking players already at the club.
Chelsea signed Pedro Neto, Jadon Sancho and Joao Felix last summer and also have Noni Madueke and Mykhailo Mudryk at the club. Maresca offloaded England winger Raheem Sterling to Arsenal during the last transfer window.
‘There’s a story going around in one or two of the papers this morning,’ Stelling said on talkSPORT in a conversation with ex-Chelsea defender Scott Minto.
‘I normally wouldn’t take any notice of it but it comes from Fabrizio Romano who is usually pretty close to the mark with transfers.
‘It’s about Alejandro Garnacho possibly going to Chelsea. With Neto, Madueke, Sancho… surely a Garnacho is the last thing Chelsea need?’
Minto responded: ‘How many more wide players do Chelsea want? To be fair if it’s coming from him you never know and Chelsea have been stockpiling lately.
‘Obviously they’ve got Mudryk as well but we don’t know when he will be back, if he will ever be back, so maybe they’re looking at a possible replacement for him.
‘But I would probably say they need reinforcements in other areas rather than wide players.’
Garnacho has scored 23 goals in 118 appearances for Manchester United since making his first-team debut in 2022.
The Argentina international is one of a number of United players being linked with January moves along with the likes of Marcus Rashford, Casemiro, Antony and Tyrell Malacia.
Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher says it ‘would not be the end of the world’ if Garnacho left Manchester United.
‘Mainoo you’ve got to keep. Mainoo looks to me like he could be a really good player,’ Carragher said on The Overlap with Sky Bet.
‘But Garnacho, I don’t know. If you got good money for Garnacho… I think if you got a good offer for him it wouldn’t be the end of the world.’
Manchester United were well beaten by Brighton at the weekend and return to action on Thursday night against Europa League rivals Rangers.
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