Ally McCoist has urged Chelsea to walk away from a transfer deal to sign Manchester United star Alejandro Garnacho in the summer window.
The Blues have agreed personal terms with the Argentina international but are yet to agree a fee with United for the 21-year-old winger.
The Red Devils reportedly want £50m for Garnacho – but given he’s in Ruben Amorim’s ‘bomb squad’ – Chelsea are hoping to pay a little less.
Garnacho, who has spent his entire senior career at Old Trafford to date, has registered 26 goals and 22 assists across 144 games for United.
Football pundit McCoist believes Chelsea should ‘stay away’ from Garnacho and abandon their plans to bring him to Stamford Bridge.
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‘I’m not having it, no,’ the Rangers legend said on talkSPORT. ‘Man United are desperately trying to get rid of him.
‘Stay away. I don’t think Chelsea need him at this moment in time. I know [Noni] Madueke’s away across the city [having joined Arsenal], but no.’
What is a ‘bomb squad’ in football?
In football, the term ‘bomb squad’ describes a group of players excluded from the first team, often made to train apart from the main squad or with youth and development sides.
Clubs frequently use this tactic to apply pressure on unwanted players to secure moves elsewhere.
United head coach Ruben Amorim was left unhappy with comments Garnacho and his brother made after the Europa League final defeat to Tottenham last season and has since told the club to sell the player.
Garnacho has been training away from his teammates ahead of the 2025-26 season and was omitted from United’s pre-season tour of the USA.
The other three players in United’s ‘bomb squad’ are Jadon Sancho, Antony and Tyrell Malacia. Marcus Rashford was also in it before he was loaned to Barcelona, with a buy option included in the deal.
Wright-Phillips confused over Garnacho deal
Former Chelsea winger Shaun Wright-Phillips has been left confused over Chelsea’s plan to recruit Garnacho, given they are expected to sign Xavi Simons from RB Leipzig this summer.
‘To be totally honest, I don’t understand buying both Xavi Simons and Alejandro Garnacho,’ Wright-Phillips told Aceodds.com.
‘I think they’re absolutely fantastic players and I love watching them but Chelsea has something like four or six wingers already.
‘Of course Noni is gone but they still have [Pedro] Neto who was arguably their best winger last season. They have [Jamie] Gittens too.
‘They have so many options so I’m confused as to how they’re going to play and who’s going to play.
‘You normally only have two in each position and that is a push sometimes as well.
‘It’ll be interesting to see how they play, from an attacking point of view, because if you do have that sort of firepower in your arsenal, you should be more than challenging for the title because you’ve got Estevao [Willian] who’s come in as well.’
