Stefan Borson responds to 'scam' claims after Alejandro Garnacho to Aston Villa completed

Aston Villa and Chelsea have nothing to worry about in the controversial loan deal for Alejandro Garnacho this summer.

That is according to former Manchester City financial adviser Stefan Borson, who exclusively told Football Insider that claims of UEFA rule breaks are "misleading".

Unai Emery is understood to have played a big role in the signing of Chelsea wantaway winger, who lasted just one season at Stamford Bridge.

It comes just days after the Blues signed Morgan Rogers for £117million, with many claiming that the loan with a conditional obligation to buy is a way around UEFA's new player trading rules.

Harvey Elliott is the latest evidence at Villa Park that Garnacho's move is unlikely to be made permanent, but there are concerns around potential sanctions were it to be.

Borson has squashed those concerns, however, stating that the structure of each deal between Villa and Chelsea shouldn't be viewed as anything illegal.

Alejandro Garnacho reports 'slightly misleading'

Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Borson said: "The key thing is that it's slightly misleading in terms of the way people have portrayed it.

"Obviously the first thing you think about is this some kind of ruse and scam when you join the two deals together.

"But actually I think in the way that it's ultimately been structured, it's probably fine.

"I think if you look out the last couple of years, Aston Villa have acquired a number of players on loan. They have had conditions and Villa have not bought many of them.

"Since [Philippe] Coutinho, I can't actually think of one that they ultimately purchased after the loan. They had [Marco] Asensio, [Marcus] Rashford, [Jadon] Sancho, Harvey Elliott.

"They were, ultimately, genuine conditional loans. Look at Harvey Elliott; they didn't buy them.

"So I don't think there's any basis for really thinking that it's anything other than as it's stated, which is a player they do rate, a player they looked at before, on a conditional loan with a real trigger.

"And that trigger appears to be appearance based."

What has Unai Emery said about Aston Villa's new signing?

While it is not unusual for managers to comment on incoming signings, he has yet to do so with Joao Gomes and Johan Manzambi.

Emery has spoken about Garnacho, though, and it might be proof of just how close the two are going to work together in 2026-27.

Upon his arrival, he said: "We are delighted with Alejandro. He is so talented, young and he showed us his wish to help our project. We are really happy."

Understandably, fans at Villa Park are not quite sold on the Chelsea loanee, and only time will tell how he settles into life at B6 next season.