Aston Villa gets Garnacho on loan from Chelsea days after record sale of Rogers

LONDON — Argentina winger Alejandro Garnacho went to Aston Villa on loan from Chelsea on Thursday, joining a Champions League team from one that has no European action this season.

Garnacho made the move just days after Morgan Rogers went from Villa Park to Chelsea for a record transfer fee for an English player.

The 22-year-old Garnacho, who was a Spain youth international, was not picked for Argentina’s World Cup squad. His eight games for Argentina include the title-winning team at the 2024 Copa América when he was a Manchester United player.

Garnacho’s one season at Chelsea after a 40 million pounds ($53 million) transfer saw coaches Enzo Maresca and Liam Rosenior fired as the 2025 Club World Cup winner placed 10th in the Premier League.

Villa enters its fifth season under coach Unai Emery after a fourth-place finish in the Premier League and winning the Europa League title.

Also Thursday, Austria midfielder Xaver Schlager signed for Nottingham Forest on a two-year deal as a free agent after his contract expired at Leipzig.

The 28-year-old Schlager started all four of Austria’s games at the World Cup, and reunites with Austrian coach Oliver Glasner whom he played for at Wolfsburg.

“This was another big reason why I wanted to come here,” Schlager said in a statement published by Forest.

Schlager is a likely replacement for England midfielder Elliot Anderson, who left Forest to join Manchester City this month. That transfer was briefly a record price for an English player before Chelsea set a new high with Rogers.