There is irony in Alejandro Garnacho's Manchester United debut coming against Chelsea. Almost three years ago, he stepped into a Premier League match for the first time.

Since then, Garnacho has fully graduated from youth football and has played 78 league games. In total he has 119 appearances for United at senior level.

His output doesn't jump off the page - 23 goals and 14 assists, down to 13 and seven just in the league - but for someone of his age it is an impressive body of work. Last season, for example, in a United side that finished eighth, Garnacho outscored all but three of Chelsea's players (Cole Palmer, Nicolas Jackson, and Raheem Sterling).

He also provided four assists and played a healthy 2,500 minutes. In what was a true breakout season, Garnacho, on an individual level, could at least be happy with his own performances. After coming from Atletico Madrid for less than £400,000 in 2020, it was enough to justify the hype.

At Old Trafford he looked to be forming part of a promising young core. Kobbie Mainoo and Rasmus Hojlund joined him to celebrate on the advertising boards when celebrating goals. This was the next dawn for United, but instead they are now open to selling him and fully expect a bid from Chelsea in the coming days.

On the face of it, it's not hard to see why Chelsea like this guy. In the 2023/24 season he was the only teenager to hit 10 goals and assists in the Premier League. He has a freakish blend of speed and strength for someone so young and takes a lot of shots.

As a confident (if not always successful) dribbler, Garnacho has a lot to offer a coach like Enzo Maresca, who is so keen to push his wingers into one-on-one situations and to create space with movement from his forwards. So yes, on an individual basis, there is plenty to admire.

The questions around Garnacho are more about his price tag and fit in the Chelsea squad. For a group that is so in need of help up front, in goal, and in midfield, adding yet another winger was hardly a priority for many entering the window.

Unless one of the many attackers departs, there will be four out-and-out wingers in the squad, plus Cole Palmer, Joao Felix, and Nicolas Jackson, who can all play there if needed. Mykhailo Mudryk will make that a fifth true winger if he is allowed to return to playing following his positive test for having banned substances in his body.

In the summer Chelsea will already add Estevao Willian and Kendry Paez to their ranks of young and potential-filled options. Someone like Garnacho does not appear to be missing from the squad.

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Yet, as mentioned, he is a player of value. Performances under Ruben Amorim have not been good, but that does not take away from someone who is already in the mix for his country and senior level and continuing to develop.

This is the first real rocky period of Garnacho's professional career and overlaps with United being on a slide of their own. For Amorim, Garnacho is also being asked to play in an unnatural central role as one of the two split No.10s. He is a wide man and just doesn't suit the system of his new head coach.

That is one of the reasons why United are happy to sell him. The demanded fee is around £60million, which is a lot for someone out of form, but is also only just over what Chelsea paid for Pedro Neto and Joao Felix. There is an argument that if United see him as being better than those two, then they are right to charge more.

Financial problems have dictated their willingness to sell, too. Garnacho's price, according to crowd-sourced football stats site Transfermarkt, is a bit lower than that, standing at £45million. That is the ballpark Chelsea will be keen to push United down to.

However, CIES Football Observatory suggests that Garnacho is really worth double that. In their early 2025 rankings, the Argentine is one of just four players aged 21 or under to have an estimated value of over £80million.

The two teenagers are Barcelona wizzkid Lamine Yamal and Paris Saint-Germain's Warren Zaire-Emmery. Savinho is the only other to hit the same threshold.

Garnacho's predicted worth is above Alexander Isak's, for example. In November 2024, his standing was actually even higher, coming in second on that list and being worth above £96million.

His current position does not warrant that money, but the rise he has had in under three years is telling. Garnacho has steadily seen his stock grow; just over 12 months ago, it was at £25million on Transfermarkt. Move forward to now, and that figure has nearly doubled, showing his progression.

The logic behind adding another player of promise and hope into the squad will be rightly questioned for Chelsea, but there is little doubting the talents that Garnacho has.