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SportsAston Villa sign Alejandro Garnacho on loan with £43m obligation to buy
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Aston Villa have announced the signing of Alejandro Garnacho on a season-long loan from Chelsea, with a £43 million conditional obligation to buy clause based on appearances. The 22-year-old Argentina international moves to Villa less than 12 months after Chelsea paid £40 million to sign him from Manchester United. Manchester United will benefit from a 10% sell-on clause if the move becomes permanent. Garnacho made 43 appearances for Chelsea last season, but only half were starts. Villa manager Unai Emery expressed delight at the signing, praising Garnacho's talent and desire to help the project. The move continues a pattern of former Manchester United wingers joining Villa on loan, following Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford. Chelsea previously avoided a permanent obligation for Jadon Sancho by paying a £5 million penalty fee.
Source report
Chelsea have sent Alejandro Garnacho to Aston Villa ahead of this coming Premier League season, less than 12 months after signing the Argentina international from Manchester United
By Matthew Abbott, Sports Writer 14:45, 23 Jul 2026 | Updated 14:57, 23 Jul 2026
Aston Villa have announced the signing of Alejandro Garnacho on a season-long loan from Chelsea. The deal includes a £43 million conditional obligation to buy clause, triggered based on the number of appearances the Argentina international makes.
Garnacho, 22, moves on from the Blues less than 12 months after they spent £40 million on signing him from Manchester United. Chelsea stand to benefit from a 10% sell-on clause should the move become permanent, with the club believing that the conditions to do so are easily reachable.
The winger made 43 appearances for Chelsea last season, though just over half of those were from the start.
Context on Similar Deals
Villa have form when it comes to these types of arrangements. Harvey Elliott's loan from Liverpool did not become permanent last season — Villa had an obligation to sign the England international for £35 million if he made ten appearances across all competitions, and only played him nine times.
Chelsea, too, have previously avoided having to sign a loanee permanently. They paid Manchester United a £5 million penalty fee 12 months ago so that they did not have to keep Jadon Sancho.
Sancho went on to join Villa on loan last season. Garnacho now effectively replaces his former teammate in Birmingham.
A Pattern of Former United Wingers
That succession of former Manchester United wingers joining Villa on loan goes back further. Marcus Rashford spent the second half of the 2024/25 season under Unai Emery.
Garnacho will hope the move works out more like Rashford's spell, rather than Sancho's. Rashford managed to secure a move to Barcelona off the back of his time at Villa Park.
Sancho, meanwhile, is still without a club after his United contract expired at the end of last season. There is no such end in sight for Chelsea if Garnacho does not stay at Villa, with six years still left on his deal.
Official Reaction
Unai Emery said in Villa's statement announcing the move:
"We are delighted with Alejandro. He is so talented, young and he showed us his wish to help our project. We are really happy."
Villa teased the move on social media by stating: "We already knew claret and blue looked good on him…" That appears to be a reference to when Garnacho wore a Villa shirt with Rashford's name and number on the back last year.
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Source
Mirror - Transfer NewsWestern
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