United Rejects Chelsea Offer: Lavia and Nkunku Ruled Out

Manchester United rejected Chelsea’s offer to include Romeo Lavia or Christopher Nkunku in the deal that brought Alejandro Garnacho to Stamford Bridge this summer. Garnacho, 21, signed for Chelsea in a £40 million ($52.62m) deal on August 30, after falling out of favor with United manager Ruben Amorim. The United spent £225 million on new signings this summer, adding forwards Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko to Amorim’s squad before completing a last-day move for goalkeeper Senne Lammens. Despite acknowledging the need for midfield reinforcements, United rejected Chelsea’s offer to include Lavia as part of the Garnacho transfer due to concerns about the Belgian’s injury history.

Lavia joined Chelsea from Southampton amid the west London club’s spending spree in the summer of 2023, but his playing time has been severely limited by injuries. Although he has been impressive when he’s been on the field, Lavia’s repeated muscle problems mean he has missed more than 75 matches, making only 31 appearances in all competitions. He hasn’t played a full 90 minutes with Chelsea yet and is currently out with a quadriceps injury. Sources indicate that Nkunku was also offered to United before finally completing his transfer to AC Milan. The forward also suffered injury problems during his time in England and failed to transfer the form he had shown at RB Leipzig to the Premier League. Chelsea will face Burnley on Saturday, while United will host Everton on Monday.