“It’s not right…” Club director slams Manchester United star for January transfer demands

One Manchester United star has been slammed for his demands during the January transfer window after the player almost left Old Trafford for pastures new.

Manchester United’s 2025 winter transfer window has been widely criticised by fans after the club failed to address key weaknesses in Rúben Amorim’s squad.

United strengthened their defence with the arrivals of Patrick Dorgu and Ayden Heaven, but the absence of attacking reinforcements has caused frustration among supporters.

At the same time, three first-team forwards—Marcus Rashford, Antony, and Ethan Wheatley—departed on loan, alongside several Academy players seeking more game time elsewhere.

One positive is the signing of highly rated left-back Diego Leon, who will officially join United on 1 July after finishing the season with Cerro Porteño in Paraguay.

Why Garnacho stayed at Napoli

While United ended up offloading 12 players either on loan or permanently, one player who stayed at Old Trafford despite multiple links away is Alejandro Garnacho.

The 20-year-old winger was linked with Premier League side Chelsea and Serie A giants Napoli, and although the latter club made multiple bids for the player, none came close to United’s reported £60 million demands.

However, according to Napoli sporting director Giovanni Manna, he feels they came close to an agreement with the player, but Garnacho’s wage demands forced the deal to collapse.

“Garnacho is a player that we like and we have liked,” he said in a press conference on Wednesday. We discussed and met Garnacho even before Kvara [Khvicha Kvaratskhelia] left.

“We made an important offer to United, we got very close.

“The player wanted to leave the Premier League in January, because in July it’s different, he wanted to be satisfied financially, something that we can’t do at the moment.”

Manna slams Garnacho for wage demands

Continuing, Manna went on to slam Garnacho for his wages demands despite being just 20 years of age, explaining that it would not be right to pay such an amount due to the average wage of their squad.

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He continued: “We don’t want to and I don’t even think it’s right when there’s an average salary in the dressing room and you put a young player who earns a higher salary.

“It’s not right towards the others who are doing important things.”

According to Capology, Napoli’s average wage sits at around £53,000 a week in their senior dressing room, and with Garnacho on around £50,000 a week at United, Napoli would have had no choice but to hand him an above-average wage to sign him.

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