Manchester United’s impressive new signings Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha were promising against Arsenal, offering a glimpse of what Ruben Amorim’s new-look attack could achieve this season.
The performance excited fans and showed a glimpse of the manager’s vision.
But it also reinforced a crucial reality – for all the positives around arrivals, significant outgoings remain essential to balance the books.
United’s push to strengthen further is heavily reliant on sales, with the club knowing they cannot continue to build without moving on players who no longer fit into Amorim’s plans.
Attention has therefore turned to the so-called ‘bomb squad’ – a group of players United want to shift on this summer.
Marcus Rashford has already sealed a loan move to Barcelona, but Antony, Jadon Sancho, and Alejandro Garnacho remain on the list of players the club are actively trying to find new homes for.
Among them, Garnacho has been the most notable case, with the winger only showing serious interest in a move to Chelsea.
That focus has now brought the situation to a head.
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According to Simon Stone of the BBC, Manchester United are braced for Chelsea to submit their first formal offer for Alejandro Garnacho in the coming days.
It has become well-known over recent months that the 21-year-old is very keen to make the switch to Stamford Bridge, which explains why he is still at the club nearly three months after Amorim told him to find a new side.
While tensions have grown – with one mural of Garnacho near Old Trafford even being defaced over the weekend – United remain determined not to allow him to leave on the cheap.
As an academy graduate, any fee raised would count as pure profit in United’s accounts, giving the deal added importance in terms of profit and sustainability regulations.
Negotiations, when they begin, will be a major test for United’s football executives Matt Hargreaves and Christopher Vivell, particularly with Chelsea known to drive a hard bargain.
However, United insiders point to Chelsea’s reluctance to sell Christopher Nkunku to Bayern Munich for less than £50m and believe that logic should guide the valuation of Garnacho.
A player they consider to be even better.
