Alejandro Garnacho was made part of Manchester United's bomb squad after falling out with Ruben Amorim, leading to his £40million move to Premier League rivals Chelsea
An icy Ruben Amorim didn't mince his words when he told Alejandro Garnacho to leave Manchester United in front of his team-mates. Garnacho, 21, joined Chelsea on Saturday in a £40million transfer deal, ending his exile at Old Trafford.
Amorim put the winger in United's five-man bomb squad, four of whom have now left the club either permanently or on loan. The decision to cast Garnacho aside was made after he made pointed comments in the media about his lack of minutes in the Europa League final.
But the Red Devils boss had qualms with Garnacho long before May's dismal 1-0 defeat to Tottenham in Bilbao. After the Argentina international was dropped alongside Marcus Rashford for the Manchester derby in December, it was a rift which widened over the course of last season.
Their rocky relationship culminated in Amorim telling Garnacho in no uncertain terms that he was surplus to requirements. During an address to his players at United's training ground the day before their final game of the season, the Athletic report that Amorim said to Garnacho: "You better hope you have a good agent this summer."
By then, however, the 21-year-old had already decided that he wanted to leave the Red Devils, favouring a move to Chelsea. Given Amorim's stance and Garnacho's exclusion from the United squad during pre-season, however, the Blues were in no hurry to submit a bid.
After offering players in exchange for Garnacho over the course of several weeks, Chelsea finally stumped up a £25m bid. Old Trafford chiefs raised the price to £40m during talks and negotiated a 10 per cent sell-on clause - a significant drop on their original asking price of £70m.
Garnacho's sale represents the fourth-largest in United's history and he'll be back to face his former club on Saturday, September 20. The former Atletico Madrid starlet joined the Red Devils in 2020, making waves in the academy.
Across 144 first-team appearances, Garnacho netted 26 goals and provided 22 assists. "Dear Manchester," he wrote in a farewell message on Instagram.
Will Manchester United regret selling Alejandro Garnacho to Chelsea? Give us your prediction in the comments section.
"After an unforgettable five years, this special chapter in my life now comes to a close. We have created moments that will stay with me forever, and I'm very grateful for this.
"To the coaches, staff, and my teammates, thank you for believing in me. Every time I wore the badge, I gave everything I had."I leave proud of what we achieved together and excited for what's to come. Wishing the club nothing but success for the future, while I look forward to giving my all in the next chapter of my career."
Sovoty
24
Man U regreting selling Garnacho? Is that a joke? Maybe Chelsea will regret buying Garnacho. My point is players come and go, the club remains. Look at RM, didn't they win UCL after Ronaldo left? Ronaldo, not some boy named Garnacho. Barca been doing okay too without Messi. For me, except you are Messi, and maybe Ronaldo, any player that wants to leave a club should be let go. Don't keep players that don't want to be at the Club.