Alejandro Garnacho sends message to Manchester United fans after Chelsea transfer link

Alejandro Garnacho has given the biggest indication yet that he will be staying at Manchester United despite being targeted by Premier League rivals Chelsea.

Chelsea expressed interest in signing the Argentina winger earlier in the January transfer window, despite the wealth of attacking options already at Enzo Maresca’s disposal.

The Blues were even reportedly still pursuing Garnacho on transfer deadline day in a deal that could have seen Christopher Nkunku head to Old Trafford.

But Garnacho has seemingly put the Chelsea rumours to bed, telling United fans that he is determined to help struggling United put things right on Friday when they return to action against Leicester City.

Ruben Amorim’s side suffered a humbling 2-0 defeat at home to Crystal Palace on Sunday to drop to 13th in the Premier League table.

On deadline day, Garnacho uploaded a picture of himself looking downbeat during the Premier League defeat on Instagram with the caption: ‘We will try again Friday…’

Garnacho, who joined Manchester United’s academy at the age of 15, was once viewed as one of the most exciting players at the club, but his stock has fallen over the past 12 months.

There were fears for Garnacho’s United career after he was left out of the Manchester derby in December along with England international Marcus Rashford.

Rashford has been completely frozen out by Amorim since and joined Aston Villa on loan this week as he looks to revive his career.

Garnacho has also been linked with a move away from Old Trafford in the back-end of the transfer window – Napoli are known admirers of the player along with Chelsea – but will now be staying put barring a huge turnaround before the transfer deadline.

Last week, United boss Amorim praised Garnacho for ‘changing in everything’ since he was axed from his squad for the Manchester derby.

‘He changed right away since that game against City,’ Amorim said. ‘The way he understands things and understands that I just want to help him, I just want to win games.

‘He changed in everything: the approach when you talk with him, the way he recovers.

‘He understands that sometimes I’m a different coach, that I am demanding in my way and sometimes it’s hard with the first impact because it’s a different kind of coach.

‘He understands that it is never in a bad way, it’s always for him, but I am different person. I think all the merit (goes to) Garnacho. He is improving and we want to continue to improve with Garnacho.’

Earlier on deadline day, it was all but confirmed that Nkunku would be staying at Chelsea despite his limited playing time under Maresca and speculation linking him with a number of clubs, including Bayern Munich and Manchester United.

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