Manchester United and Chelsea are now exploring a swap deal which would send Christopher Nkunku to Old Trafford in exchange for winger Alejandro Garnacho, a report has claimed.
Chelsea have stepped up their interest in Garnacho, who is expected to cost close to £60m, after watching the Argentina international lose prominence under new United head coach Ruben Amorim.
There were reports of talks over a swap deal which took place earlier in the month, and that has been reignited by claims from Sky Sports Germany that United are now looking at bringing Nkunku over in exchange.
ESPN were among the first to report on United’s interest in Nkunku, who has struggled horribly for minutes under Enzo Maresca and has been heavily linked with a blockbuster move to Bayern Munich this month.
Talks over a swap deal are by no means advanced or concrete, but it is an idea which has been floated between the two sides, both of whom have showed a willingness to get creative with transfers to avoid breaching the Premier League’s financial rules.
Chelsea had emerged as the favourites to sign Garnacho when fellow suitors Napoli began looking elsewhere, but Gianluca Di Marzio states the Serie A side are back in the race after struggling to convince Karim Adeyemi to leave Borussia Dortmund.
English sources state Garnacho’s preference would be to join Chelsea this month if he is to leave United, while the Italian media claim Garnacho is giving preference to Napoli.
