United Rejects Chelsea’s Offer for Garnacho: Lavia and Nkunku Out

Manchester United rejected Chelsea’s proposal to include Romeo Lavia or Christopher Nkunku in the deal that took Alejandro Garnacho to Stamford Bridge this summer. Garnacho, 21 years old, signed for Chelsea in a £40 million deal on August 30, after losing prominence under the technical direction of Ruben Amorim at United. The United invested £225 million in new signings this summer, adding forwards Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko to Amorim’s team, before finalizing a last-minute transfer for goalkeeper Senne Lammens. Despite acknowledging the need to reinforce the midfield, United rejected Chelsea’s offer to include Lavia in the Garnacho transfer due to concerns about the Belgian player’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 reported that Nkunku was also offered to United before he eventually completed a 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 faces Burnley on Saturday, while United hosts Everton on Monday.