Chelsea's Alejandro Garnacho swap deal and Enzo Maresca concerns come to light

Chelsea successfully snagged Alejandro Garnacho in a £40million deal with Manchester United this summer, but the Blues were hopefully of incorporating a player swap instead of paying the full fee

Chelsea reportedly tried to put Romeo Lavia up as part of a swap deal for Alejandro Garnacho this summer.

Garnacho's future at Old Trafford was thrown into doubt at the end of last season when the forward voiced his dissatisfaction with Manchester United's underwhelming Premier League campaign that saw them finish in a disappointing 15th place.

Following a summer of unrest, the 21-year-old secured a £40million move to Stamford Bridge, while Ruben Amorim bolstered his attacking options with the arrivals of Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko.

However, according to ESPN, rather than a straight cash deal, it is believed that United were offered Chelsea starlet Lavia as part of the package for Garnacho - only for the Red Devils to snub the option as a result of the 21-year-old's past issues with fitness.

A graduate of the Manchester City youth academy in 2021, Lavia secured a move to Southampton the following year, where he racked up 34 appearances for the Saints. During his stint at St Mary's, his former boss in Pep Guardiola was quick to lavish him with praise as a result of his development.

Speaking ahead of a fixture between City and Southampton in April 2023, the Spanish tactician said: "I am really impressed with what Romeo has done and is doing.

"We had, and we have, an incredible opinion about him. We thought to keep him, but maybe he would not (get) enough minutes like he has in Southampton."

While Lavia then bagged a £58m transfer to Chelsea a year after signing for Southampton, the youngster has failed to find his footing within Enzo Maresca's side. Not only has the Belgian seen stiff competition positionally from the likes of Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo for his place, but he has also been plagued by injury since arriving in West London.

As per Transfermarkt, Lavia has missed a total of 79 outings for the Blues as a result of ankle, hamstring and thigh issues, as well as muscle strain - only adding to the medical list that Maresca has had to navigate since taking up tenure last summer.

This season alone, Maresca has seen a number of key players miss out on vital game-time as a result of injury, with the likes of Cole Palmer, Levi Colwill and Liam Delap sitting out for prolonged periods.

Thankfully, fitness struggles haven't impacted Chelsea's aspirations of a Premier League title this season too much thus far, as the London outfit sit third in the top flight table with six wins, two draws and three losses to show for their efforts.

They have also won four of their last five league outings. In the Champions League, meanwhile, Chelsea sit 12th as a result of two wins, a draw and a loss from their opening four.

Maresca will know all too well the task at hand when Chelsea return to Premier League action come Saturday, November 22, however, as they prepare to square-off with a resilient Burnley headed by Scott Parker. The side also face matches against Barcelona and Arsenal before November is out, and a hectic schedule gets underway in the lead-up to the new year.