Alejandro Garnacho joined Chelsea this summer from Manchester United in a deal said to be worth around £40m. The Argentine international’s career at Old Trafford fizzled out in the end, so his move to Stamford Bridge was a shock to some. However, history suggests that players can flourish after leaving the Red Devils behind them.
The Blues have brought in a lot of new faces over the summer, with Enzo Maresca receiving full support. Garnacho, if he follows the path of many other former United players, could prove to be one of the best. It’s up to him to go out there and prove Ruben Amorim wrong.
Wrong players, wrong club
Manchester United are no longer the force they once were. The days of Alex Ferguson are long gone, and their total haul of five trophies since his 2013 departure is proof of that. Plenty is wrong with the Red Devils, but one of their biggest problems has been their recruitment.
So much of it feels like a case of the wrong player for the wrong club at the wrong time. Players are signed for too much money despite not fitting in with the plan - if there’s a plan at all. The sheer number of players who struggle at the club but regain form once they leave is alarming.
Bruno and Zlatan are rare transfer triumphs
Looking at the performance data of first-team signings at United since 2019/20 via FBref, SofaScore and Transfermarkt, the results are pretty damning. In total, 28 first-team players have been signed, and you can count on one hand the ones who’ve been a genuine success. There have been substantially more misses than hits.
Only 10 of those signings played more minutes in their final season with their last club and their first in Manchester, and only four increased their xG. Meanwhile, 20 of them weren’t able to improve on their xA, and only three improved their actual goalscoring ratio.
Rasmus Hojlund, Antony, Alexis Sanchez, Jadon Sancho, Romelu Lukaku, Memphis Depay and more have all come and gone. None of them proved to be good signings. It could be argued that Bruno Fernandes and Zlatan Ibrahimovic have been the only truly excellent signings since 2013.
With nearly £2 billion spent since Ferguson’s exit, and very little to show for it, you can understand the frustration of the fans. Looking down their list of record signings doesn’t make for good reading, with Paul Pogba, Antony, Harry Maguire and Sancho occupying the top-four spots.
Sancho, as a specific case in point, saw his goal tally cut in half, assists drop by three quarters, and general minutes fall as well. Antony, likewise, fell off in every meaningful department after joining from Ajax, with his goals and assists being cut in half. Elsewhere, on departing, Lukaku almost doubled his goal tally from 12 to 23, and Scott McTominay went from eight G/A to 16.
What does that mean for Sesko, Mbuemo, Cunha?
It’s something that will worry Benjamin Sesko, Bryan Mbuemo and Matheus Cunha, even if they back themselves. All have unquestionable quality, all shone for their previous clubs, but can they succeed where others failed? The pressure is ramped up on Amorim now, because the owners have given him full support.
Sesko hit 18 G/A last season, while Mbuemo got 27 and Cunha reached 21 - they’re all players that should strengthen the Red Devils. However, so far they’ve lost to Arsenal, drawn with Fulham, scraped past Burnley and been knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Grimsby Town. Also, only Mbeumo is off the mark.
There’s still time, of course, and there is definitely a bedding-in period required. It’s been a busy summer at Old Trafford, and they could find their groove at some point. However, with a recent history of poor signings, new arrivals will have to buck the trend if they’re to help turn things around.
Manchester United struggle on the sales front
Their selling strategy is nearly as poor as their approach to signings. Since 2019/20, there have been 22 first-team players that have either been sold or loaned out, and only eight of them have made profit. Garnacho, to their credit, is one of them, having been picked up on the cheap for around £400,000 from Atletico Madrid.
Yet, Antony just left for about a quarter of what they paid for him in 2022. Aaron Wan-Bissaka left not long back for more than half what they paid Crystal Palace for him. Donny van de Beek left for around half a million pounds after being signed for £35m.
It’s not just the financials that grate, either. It’s how players go on to do elsewhere, there’s a debate about whether - even when they sell for profit - they’re selling the wrong players.
Success after United
Of the 22 sold or loaned out since 2019/20, 16 went on to play more minutes, 15 scored more goals, 15 got more assists. xG increased for 14 of them, and xA went up for 15 of them. As previously referenced, Lukaku and McTominay drastically improved their output at Inter and Napoli - and Antony’s time at Betis was fantastic.
It’d be no surprise for anyone to see the likes of Hojlund, Lindelof and Rashford improve at their new clubs this season. Lacking a better term, United have turned into a bit of a deadzone, a place where success isn’t feasible in its current state. It’s up to players like Sesko, Mbeumo, Cunha and now Senne Lammens to prove people wrong.
What does it mean for Garnacho at Chelsea?
If the 21-year-old follows in the footsteps of others before him, then the Blues can expect an improvement on his 21 G/A at least. He got 11 goals and 10 assists across all competitions, and has an xG/xA of 7.3 and 4.5 respectively. Maresca hopes to see him kick on in London.
We’ve seen what a new environment can do for United players, how they can flourish when moving on. Garnacho hopes for the same as he heads south - he’s certainly got the ability. He’ll look at the likes of McTominay and Antony as proof of what can be achieved.
However, he won’t have it easy in a Chelsea team full of attacking talent. Only time will tell whether United will rue another bit of player mismanagement, or consider their hefty profit a great bit of business.