Chelsea loanee Alejandro Garnacho already looks to be on borrowed time at Aston Villa, who are willing to ‘back out’ of a permanent transfer.

In the summer, Garnacho was involved in one of the window’s most surprising transfers, with the winger joining Aston Villa from Chelsea.

Aston Villa secured a loan deal with a conditional £43m buy option, with a deal to become permanent if he makes a certain number of appearances.

Head coach Unai Emery has been tasked with rebuilding Garnacho after a difficult couple of years at Manchester United and Chelsea, but this has not been going to plan.

Garnacho has made a slow start to the 2026/27 campaign, having only played 60 minutes in his five substitute appearances in all competitions.

Now, there is already speculation around Garnacho’s future, and a report from Football Insider claims Aston Villa are ‘prepared to back out of the deal’ to sign the winger permanently if this ‘form doesn’t improve’ in the coming weeks.

Harvey Elliot repeat awaits for Alejandro Garnacho at Aston Villa

The report also claims Aston Villa are even ‘prepared to freeze him out if needs be’ to ensure Garnacho reaches the necessary number of appearances to make his transfer permanent.

It is said that the Villans have ‘already decided that they will avoid playing him enough to trigger their buy clause as things stand’, though the ‘ball is in Garnacho’s court to prove his worth’ and change their minds.

It has also been reported this week that Aston Villa have turned their attention to a Turkish winger as a potential replacement for Garnacho, who has yet to justify the potential £43m fee it will cost to sign him permanently.

Still, we reported last month that Aston Villa’s insiders have made it clear that there is still a future for Garnacho at the club.

On Thursday night, Garnacho came on for the final 20 minutes and impressed as Aston Villa beat Viking 3-1 in their latest Champions League group phase match.

After the game, Emery reserved special praise for Garnacho.

Emery said: “They are exploiting their quality.

We have to feel strong in our structure and understand how we want to play and how we can feel strong.

“We are trying to be at the highest level possible. Today they improved and are getting more confident. It was a step forward for both players.

“Garnacho played 20 minutes and these were his best minutes with us. It is positive.”