Enzo Maresca finally landing Alejandro Garnacho – but is £40m Man Utd outcast any better than what Blues already have?
CHELSEA boss Enzo Maresca wanted another left winger, and the club have given him Alejandro Garnacho.
But is the Argentinian, with his inconsistency on the field and indiscipline off it, the right option?
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Garnacho, whose signing is set to be confirmed today after he watched the Blues take on Fulham, undoubtedly has bags of potential.
Aged 21, he has plenty of time to fulfil it.
At a fee of £40m, in a window where players have been going for really silly money, he does not represent a massive risk.
The question is whether Garnacho is better than what Chelsea already have or what they have let go in the course of an incredible summer of buying and selling.
Garnacho is set to duke it out with fellow new arrival Jamie Gittens to be Maresca’s first choice down the left.
The Blues boss said: “They are quite similar.
“When we are looking for a winger, we like wingers who are good in one-v-one, they are quite vertical, aggressive, they can attack, they can create something.
“Jamie is that profile. If Garnacho arrives, we will see.”
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Garnacho brings more competition for places in Chelsea’s well-stocked attack.
But when you compare his stats for last season to those of Gittens, it is not much of a contest.
Across most of the important categories, Gittens was better: goals, assists, dribbles, chance conversion and so on.
There are two points to consider, however. Firstly, Gittens had a great time in front of goal last season, outperforming his expected goals significantly.
Meanwhile Garnacho had a particularly bad time when it came to converting big chances.
Secondly, there is the Jadon Sancho factor.
While Sancho was playing for Borussia Dortmund – as Gittens was last season – the then England manager Gareth Southgate was asked frequently about his form and whether he deserved more game time.
Without ever actually saying, “Lads, it’s the Bundesliga”, Southgate made it pretty clear that doing well in Germany’s top flight was one thing, but reproducing that form in the Premier League and at international level was quite another.
Maresca was not impressed with Gittens’ PL debut against Crystal Palace, hooking him after 54 minutes and putting him on the bench for the 5-1 thrashing of West Ham.
Yet it would be harsh to judge Gittens so soon.
Interestingly, too, Sancho’s stats while he was on loan at Chelsea last season stand up pretty well to Garnacho’s for United in some categories.
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Sancho seemed to enjoy being away from the toxicity of Old Trafford and Maresca said: “We had Jadon with us and he had a very good season.
“Again, if we finish top four and we achieve what we achieved, it’s also because of Jadon.
“Now with Garnacho, in case [if] he will arrive, we will see.”
That phrase again – we will see.
Noni Madueke, sold to Arsenal by the Blues earlier this summer, outperformed both Sancho and Garnacho last season.
Madueke, of course, plays primarily as a right winger. But on output alone, Chelsea seem to have got rid of a more potent attacking player than Garnacho.
And looking at Pedro Neto’s numbers, you wonder whether the Blues would have been better keeping Madueke.
Garnacho’s statistics for United in 2023/4 were in many cases better than in 2024/5, but not to a spectacular degree.
The Argentinian has it all to prove on the pitch.
He will also need to be careful off it.
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Garnacho infuriated United this summer with his habit of sending not-very-subtle messages of defiance through social media.
The Blues boss said: “We are in an era where I look like the strange one, because I don’t use social networks.
“I have a company that runs my Instagram but I don’t use it. I look strange because I don’t use it.
“But the normal situation in this era is that everyone uses it. I’m not going to tell them, don’t use that.
“First of all, because they have family around them that can give them advice.
“I have four kids and try to give them advice.
“But if I have to give 25 more players advice, it’s too complicated.
“Anyone can do what they want, anyone can say what they want, but in the end it’s a matter of respect.”
Garnacho may find Maresca and Chelsea intolerant of mischief-making on social media and other disruptive behaviour.
And he only has to look at the turnover of players at Stamford Bridge to know what will happen if he does not deliver.
