Aston Villa have announced the signing of Alejandro Garnacho on a season-long loan from Chelsea. Their deal includes a £43million conditional obligation to buy clause based on how many appearances the Argentina international makes.
Garnacho, 22, moves on from the Blues less than 12 months after they spent £40million on signing him from Manchester United. They stand to benefit from a 10% sell-on clause should the move become permanent, with Chelsea believing that the conditions to do so are easily reachable.
The winger made 43 appearances for them last season. However, just over half of those were from the start.
Villa's history with loan obligations
Villa have form when it comes to these types of deals, with Harvey Elliott's loan from Liverpool not becoming permanent last season. They had an obligation to sign the England international for £35million 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 United a £5 million penalty fee 12 months ago so that they did not have to keep Jadon Sancho.
The winger went on to join Villa on loan last season. Garnacho now effectively replaces his former team-mate in Birmingham.
Former United wingers at Villa
That succession of former United wingers joining Villa on loan goes back even further. Marcus Rashford spent the second half of the 2024/25 season under Unai Emery.
Garnacho will hope the move works out more like that spell rather than Sancho's. Rashford managed to get 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.
