Alejandro Garnacho transfer news: Aston Villa agree deal with Chelsea for winger

Aston Villa have agreed a deal to sign Alejandro Garnacho from Chelsea.

The arrangement is for a loan with a conditional obligation to buy, which is easily achievable.

The total package, including the loan fee, is understood to meet Chelsea's valuation.

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Sky Sports News has been reporting Chelsea wanted £42.6m for the winger.

Garnacho joined Chelsea last summer from Manchester United for £40m.

The Argentina international winger had not reported for pre-season training at Chelsea in order to allow him to pursue a move away.

The deal comes after the two clubs negotiated a British-record transfer fee of £117m for Morgan Rogers to go in the other direction.

Why UEFA rules make Garnacho move complicated

The deal for Garnacho to move from Chelsea to Aston Villa is not a straightforward one.

Both clubs were recently fined by UEFA for breaching financial sustainability regulations. They are walking a fine tightrope to avoid further heavier sanctions. Last year, Chelsea entered a four-year settlement agreement with UEFA and therefore remain subject to UEFA's stricter financial guidelines - despite not being in European competition this season.

Villa were able to bank an enormous profit from the sale of Morgan Rogers to Chelsea. A profit which will go a long way to ensuring they are compliant with both UEFA and the Premier League's differing financial constraints this season. But the club also need to rebuild their squad following multiple departures to ensure they are ready to compete on all fronts this season.

Garnacho was made available for transfer by Chelsea this summer. Villa were looking for a winger. Unai Emery admired the Argentinian. A permanent deal would seem straightforward.

However, that would compromise Villa when it comes to booking that huge British transfer record fee from Chelsea. That's because of UEFA guidelines which - to simplify slightly - deem that two players being transferred in opposite directions counts as a 'player exchange transaction' if a) they are concluded in 45 days of each other and b) have the same or similar payment obligations, deadlines or dates.

If the Garnacho and Rogers deals were deemed as a single player exchange transaction, then Villa's profit would be reduced in UEFA calculations to the net difference in fees. Chelsea were seeking £42.6m for Garnacho this summer. Easy to see how much of a chunk that would take out of the Rogers profit.

So how about a loan with an obligation to buy? A mechanism that allows Chelsea to guarantee they achieve a permanent sale but circumvents the player exchange transaction rules. Sadly, that wouldn't work either. UEFA are clamping down on the multitude of loopholes that previously existed. They deem that if a 'condition is considered to be virtually certain, then the player's registration must be recognised by both clubs as a permanent transfer from the inception of the loan agreement'. Therefore, we'd still have a player exchange transaction.

So, the deal struck for Garnacho to join Villa appears to work for all parties - sort of. Chelsea believe the conditions to make Garnacho's move to Villa permanent are 'easily achievable'.

However, there still remains a small risk for the Blues. There has to be enough jeopardy in the deal to ensure UEFA are satisfied that a permanent move is not a foregone conclusion from the outset. The Blues will hope there's no repeat of what happened to Harvey Elliott at Villa Park last season. A talented player left warming the bench as his main employers watch his future selling price plummet.

Therefore, seeing a resurgent Alejandro Garnacho flying down the left wing in claret and blue will be a good sight for both Villa and Chelsea.

Is Garnacho the right fit on the left for Aston Villa?

Analysis from Sky Sports' Callum Bishop:

In a tough first season for Chelsea, Garnacho struggled to make much of an impact in an already overcrowded left-hand side. The Argentine managed just 1,217 Premier League minutes across his 25 appearances last term, an average of less than 49 minutes per game.

That is less than both Rogers (1,528) and Emiliano Buendia (1,527} managed in the same position while sharing the workload off the left flank for Villa last season.

Their average returns were far more superior too. Garnacho's five goal involvements saw him average one every 243 minutes compared to Rogers' record of a goal involvement every 90 minutes, and Buendia's of every 190.

Should Villa bring in Garnacho, it would surely mean a tweak in Unai Emery's system when the Argentine is on the pitch.

With Buendia and Rogers, there is a versatility that not only sees them able to play on either flank, but also show a tendency to move inside.

Garnacho has operated on the right-hand side previously. He scored a goal in the FA Cup final win for Manchester United over local rivals City while operating from that flank. Cut inside though? That is something you see far less from the winger.

His tendency is to hug the touchline and stay wide. In doing so, it would mean that Emery would need to be flexible with his attacking patterns, or Garnacho would have to show adaptability. Which is more likely?

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