Exclusive: Chelsea 'making progress towards Alejandro Garnacho agreement'
Chelsea are making progress in their attempts to sign Man United star Alejandro Garnacho this month, according to the club's former chief scout.
Mick Brown, who spent over a decade at Old Trafford during their most successful period and remains very well-connected there, exclusively told Football Insider that the Blues are interested in signing the 20-year-old to replace Mykhailo Mudryk.
Reports have now claimed the winger's agent was in attendance at Stamford Bridge during Chelsea's 3-1 win against Wolves on Monday (20 January).
Brown explained that United's preference would be to sell Garnacho abroad amid growing interest from Serie A outfit Napoli, but would not rule out a move to Stamford Bridge.
Their willingness to sell comes as a result of profit and sustainability concerns, and there is a growing belief that they will be forced to sell an academy product to raise pure profit.
Football Insider revealed on 18 January that it would take a "huge sum" for the Red Devils to sell to a direct rival amid initial interest from Tottenham.
However, Chelsea are expected to be willing to pay that price after their recent free-spending transfer windows, and could now move quickly to land Garnacho before 3 February.
Chelsea step up plans to sign Man United's Alejandro Garnacho
Now, the former scout who has a wealth of experience in top-level player recruitment and also worked as a scout for the likes of West Ham and Tottenham, insisted Chelsea could meet the winger's asking price and tempt their rivals to sell.
"Yes, Chelsea are very interested in him," he told Football Insider.
"From what I hear, they're making progress towards that because he's the one they want.
"I don't think there's been a bid yet, but there has been a lot of talk about a move.
"They've got all this going on behind the scenes with Mudryk and I'm not sure whether he'll ever play for them again - a bit like we've seen with Paul Pogba.
"So they're looking to sign a new winger and Garnacho is a name that has come up.
"It looks like Man United are willing to let him go because they want to raise money.
"I think if they were going to let him go, it would ideally be to a foreign club.
"But that doesn't mean to say they'll turn down an offer from Chelsea if it meets their asking price."
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