Man Utd Rejected Wild Chelsea Swap Deal For Player In Problem Position
Manchester United turned down a surprise swap deal offer from Chelsea during the summer transfer window, it has been reported.
United completed four incoming transfers during the windows, with attackers Benjamin Sesko, Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo being joined at Old Trafford by goalkeeper and deadline day signing Senne Lammens.
On the outgoing front, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho both left on loan, while Antony signed for Real Betis on a permanent basis.
Ruben Amorim's side resisted the urge to invest in their midfield, with reports indicating that will be a priority target area for the upcoming windows.
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They were linked with a £100 million move for Brighton midfielder Carlos Baleba but ultimately did not launch a bid.
They instead dealt with Chelsea, who have signed numerous players from Brighton in recent seasons, over the sale of winger Alejandro Garnacho.
Garnacho had been told by Amorim to find a new club following the Europa League final defeat to Tottenham, having publicly described United's season as 's**t'.
According to ESPN, Chelsea offered to send one of their midfielders in the other direction to Old Trafford as part of the £40 million deal to sign Garnacho.
It is claimed that Belgium international Romeo Lavia was the player offered to Amorim's side, but United rejected that proposal due to concerns over his injury record.
Those concerns have been proven to be justified, at least in the short-term, as he suffered a thigh problem during Chelsea's 2-2 Champions League away draw at Qarabag earlier in November which will rule him out for a month.
The Belgian has suffered a host of injury problems since arriving at Stamford Bridge from Southampton in the summer of 2023, and is still yet to complete a full 90 minutes for Enzo Maresca's side.
According to Transfermarkt, he has missed 78 Chelsea matches in total due to injury issues.
Speaking after Lavia's latest absence was confirmed, Maresca said: "We feel very ashamed, especially for him, because he's not able to be fit for a long, long period.
"The main target for Romeo now is to be fit. Don't get any injuries. For me, at this moment, Romeo is where Reece [James] was one year ago - coming back after a long period out.
"We need to manage him every minute, every day, every second. The target is to keep him fit and help him enjoy football again."
Topics: Chelsea, Premier League, Football, Champions League, Ruben Amorim, Enzo Maresca, Man Utd, Transfer News
Ryan Smart