Spurs move off?
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Chelsea fans had very little to cheer about as their side went into the final day of the January transfer window mulling over a heavy 4-1 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield the night before. The Blues have now lost four of their last five away games in the Premier League. One of the biggest, most drawn-out sagas of the window has been around the future of Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher. The Englishmen has been linked with a move to rivals Spurs throughout the window, but it now looks as though the 23 year old will stay at Stamford Bridge, for the second half of the season at least.
Gallagher has not only captained Chelsea on numerous occasions this season, but has also proved to be one of Mauricio Pochettino’s best players. And with his tireless work rate and intelligent pressing, it’s no wonder Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou sees Gallagher as a perfect fit for his Spurs team. However, Chelsea reportedly wanted a fee of around €55 million for the midfielder, and Spurs weren’t willing to cough up that kind of money for a player whose contract runs out in 2025. His current market value is €42m.
How good has Conor Gallagher been for Chelsea this season?
Despite rumours incessantly linking him with moves away from the club, few Chelsea stars can lay claim to being as vital to Pochettino’s team than Gallagher this season. For a start, the 23-year-old midfielder has so far logged 2,240 minutes of football in all competitions for the club, which puts him second in the entire squad and behind only Axel Disasi. On top of that, the young England international has also been vital in the way he’s fitted into Pochettino’s midfield over the last few months.
Gallagher first emerged on the scene as an exciting, young box-to-box midfielder at Chelsea and while his role may have changed from one loan spell to the next, that’s exactly what he’s now doing for Pochettino’s team this season. For example, as we can see in the graphic above and thanks to stats from FBRef, the midfielder is comfortably one of Chelsea’s best defensive players, coming in first place among his team mates for interceptions, tackles won and blocked shots and passes across the pitch.
However, he isn’t just a defensive stalwart in Pochettino’s midfield. As previously mentioned, Gallagher is a true box-to-box player and that means he also brings a lot of attacking intent to this Chelsea side. Along with his clear success in the defensive aspect of his game, Gallagher also sits top of Chelsea’s second only to Cole Palmer and Raheem Sterling when it comes to assists, second for key passes and fifth for touches of the ball in the opposing box this season. And there’s certainly a sense that his role in this team is growing in importance with every passing game.
For example, Gallagher’s elevated standing in Pochettino’s team can perhaps be noted by the fact that among the club’s midfielders he outranks all others for total touches of the ball in the league this season. And when it comes to completed passes he’s also above all other midfielders in the squad. In fact, when we consider his average of 55.2 completed passes per 90 minutes in the league this season and compare it to his last five seasons – as we have done in the graphic above – we can see just how much more time he is getting on the ball. In no uncertain terms, Gallagher is one of Chelsea’s most important players this season.
Why do Chelsea want to sell Conor Gallagher?
Considering his performances for the club this season, rumours constantly linking Gallagher with moves elsewhere seem a little odd. But there are perhaps three reasons for the rumour mill taking a particular interest in the England international. The first one is that the stories are simply based on false or flimsy information and that Gallagher will now, in fact, stay put at Stamford Bridge this season. This is likely to be the answer that most Chelsea fans will be clinging to at this moment in time.
€50m and more – Chelsea’s record transfers
The other two reasons come down to the current set up of Pochettino’s squad. While Gallagher is probably Chelsea’s best performing midfielder this season, he also happens to be one of the few that didn’t cost the club a fortune to sign in the first place. In the last two years alone, Chelsea have spent no less than €344 million on central midfielders Carney Chukwuemeka, Lesley Ugochukwu, Moisés Caicedo, Roméo Lavia and Enzo Fernández. And the club’s hierarchy may prefer to see these players get game time over the young player that came through the youth academy and didn’t cost any money to sign at all.
The third reason why Gallagher could be sold is down to the fact that he’s highly-regarded in the Premier League, wanted by a number of clubs and could be sold for a sizable sum. The club have already made around €270m from player sales this season, but that has been entirely swallowed up by the €468m that they spent on new players in the summer. And if UEFA and the Premier League’s financial fair play rules begin to put pressure on the club’s financial results, a player like Gallagher would be a prime candidate to cash in on either this month or in the summer.
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