Alejandro Garnacho denied obvious exit as Man Utd outcast sees £24m deal agreed
Alejandro Garnacho has been a transfer target of Italian side Napoli for the better part of a year. The Serie A winners saw a £40m bid for the Argentina winger rejected in January.
Then, they were targeting the 21-year-old to replace Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, the Georgian star who had just moved to Paris Saint-Germain - where he would become a Champions League winner just five months later.
United of course said no, elected to keep Garnacho despite issues with his attitude and social media posts. After being benched for the Manchester derby victory in December he looked on the way out.
But Garnacho knuckled down, became an important part of Ruben Amorim's side and featured heavily in the second half of the season - until the final weeks.
His Europa League final snub and subsequent reaction were the final straw for Amorim, who duly told Garnacho he had to leave this summer. Now he is one of five players whom the club have told not to return to pre-season training as they seek opportunities away from Old Trafford. Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Antony and Tyrell Malacia are the others.
Of the quintet, Garnacho is the one for whom United can charge the most. He's youngest of the five, has shown he can cut it at United and doesn't command a £350k-a-week salary like Rashford.
Indeed, his deal is increasingly key for the club's accounts, because his sale equates to pure profit. The current issue however is that while there's been plenty of speculation around potential suitors - Atletico Madrid, Chelsea, Napoli and Juventus to name four - none have come forward with an offer.
Indeed, they're looking elsewhere. Chelsea have turned to Jamie Gittens from Borussia Dortmund as well as £60m Brighton striker Joao Pedro in recent days, Juventus like Jadon Sancho and have landed Jonathan David in forward positions and now Napoli have turned to £24million PSV Eindhoven star Noa Lang, with an agreement finally reached between the two clubs.
As such, the door on a move to the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium for Garnacho appears to have been firmly closed.
United must keep searching for a buyer to give them what they want. But selling Garnacho across Europe this summer is starting to look harder than it previously did.
And if the player was thinking of being the next Scott McTominay, he may need to think again.
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