Aston Villa has opened negotiations with Chelsea on a deal for Conor Gallagher.
Manager Unai Emery is eager to get the England midfielder and he is pressing for a quick agreement but he has to pay at least £50m for transfer fee.
Tottenham Hotspurs wants Gallagher too, with only a year left on his Chelsea deal. The 24-year-old middle man could draw more eyes if he does well at Euro 2024 with England.
Chelsea is open to bids for Gallagher, who doesn’t really want to leave his first club.
The Blues haven’t made much headway on a new deal for him and don’t want to lose him for free next year.
By selling him, Chelsea could stick to the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability regulations better. The transfer fee for Gallagher will be recorded as pure profit in Chelsea’s accounts as he is an academy player.
However, it remains doubtful whether the £50m valuation can be met by Aston Villa.
The club would have to sell one or two players in order to finance the bid for Gallagher.
Or maybe the club could sell and include its Colombian 20-year-old striker, Jhon Durán, in the deal. Chelsea is also monitoring the striker since the winter.
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Emery admires Gallagher for his energy and is determined to persuade him to move to Villa. For Chelsea selling Gallagher has become a gamble because of his popularity among the fans.
Besides, the homegrown player, Trevoh Chalobah is a target for Manchester United, and Chelsea might lose two academy graduates it finds very crucial.
Chelsea’s new head coach, Enzo Maresca, may be forced to plan for life without both Gallagher and Chalobah.
His predecessor, Mauricio Pochettino, had wanted to keep the pair. In order to offset the potential loss of some future talents, Chelsea is considering other options.
They could well complete the signing of Fulham center-back Tosin Adarabioyo on a free transfer.
Additionally, they are looking to strengthen their attack by bringing in a striker to compete with Nicolas Jackson, with RB Leipzig forward Benjamin Sesko being tracked, though he is also wanted by Arsenal.
Aston Villa’s pursuit of Gallagher underlines their intent to bolster their squad after Champions League qualification.
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The result of these talks will impact the two clubs, with Villa trying to improve their midfield options and Chelsea trying to improve its squad and finances.
Aston Villa is keenly in pursuit of Conor Gallagher from Chelsea, with Unai Emery looking to further advance an already energetic midfield in his squad.
Chelsea does not want to sell, but they will carefully weigh the decision concerning the future value of Gallagher and his popularity.
It will all depend on Villa meeting the price or maybe including Jhon Durán in the deal.
