Chelsea Transfers

[Vesper 30,083]

Conor Gallagher: The midfielder rated higher by rivals than he is at Chelsea

https://theathletic.com/4716154/2023/07/24/conor-gallagher-Chelsea-tottenham-west-ham/

Time for a little pre-season quiz: who is Chelsea’s oldest current central midfielder?

If your answer was Conor Gallagher, a) you are correct, and b) this might be the moment to admit you are paying too much attention. It is a remarkable, surprising fact that underlines the exodus of experience from that area of the squad over the last six months and the strength of Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital’s desire to build around young talent.

A little more than three weeks into Mauricio Pochettino’s tenure as head coach, it remains unclear which of those two camps Gallagher will end up in. He was the only outfield player to last the full 90 minutes against Brighton & Hove Albion in the second match of the club’s five-game U.S. pre-season tour in Philadelphia on Saturday, yet he continues to be linked relentlessly with a move away.

Chelsea are yet to offer Gallagher an extension to a contract which runs until June 2025, and it has been made clear to interested clubs that he is available for the right price. A package worth in the region of £50million ($64.1m) would certainly be enough to get it done, but a market at that level has been slow to develop despite the esteem he is held in across the Premier League. A source close to Chelsea, who will remain anonymous to protect relationships, said on Monday that West Ham United submitted a bid worth £40million for the Cobham graduate. However, Chelsea later rejected the bid.

With such a lofty asking price, Chelsea are essentially telling his potential suitors they value Gallagher as a premium asset: a 23-year-old, proven Premier League performer and senior England international with considerable positional and tactical versatility and potential for further improvement. All of which begs the question: why they are entertaining the notion of selling him?

Gallagher is not pushing to leave. Coming from a family of diehard Chelsea supporters, his preference has always been to pursue a long and successful career at Stamford Bridge. That mindset has not been shifted by the endless speculation about his future, nor by the explicit acknowledgement by the club that he is regarded as expendable.

In the final days of this year’s January transfer window, Gallagher was the subject of a £45million bid from Everton. Chelsea made it clear they were amenable to this offer, much to the bemusement of the player and his camp. Gallagher had zero interest in joining a team fighting for their Premier League survival, and the perception that he was being nudged in that direction did not go over well.

 

Gallagher is from a family of Chelsea fans and in no rush to leave (Photo: Mike Egerton/PA Images via Getty Images)

Newcastle United indicated they were prepared to bid at a similar level, and Chelsea did not encourage interest from a club who, with their unexpected charge towards a top-four finish, were establishing themselves as one of the west Londoners’ serious long-term domestic rivals. The apparent concern about what he might achieve at his former club’s expense in a more talented Premier League team jarred with their willingness to sell.

Gallagher quietly went on to crack 2,000 minutes of play for Chelsea across all competitions last season, ranking him ninth among outfielders in the squad. He maintained a record of featuring in at least 30 league matches in every season of his professional career — a reflection of the fact he almost never gets injured, as well as his impressive knack for winning the trust of his coaches. He has had enough practice, with Pochettino being his fifth different one to impress at Chelsea after Frank Lampard (twice), Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter.

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England manager Gareth Southgate is a fan too, offering an effusive assessment of Gallagher’s game when explaining his inclusion in the squad for last year’s World Cup.

“He’s fantastic at pressing the ball,” Southgate said. “There are going to be moments in these (World Cup) games where we need certain attributes and we feel he could be that sort of player. He’s not as experienced as some of the others but he has an impact in games and has a goal threat.

“When you look at midfielders you often ask: ‘Do they stop goals, create goals or score goals?’ He does a lot of all of that.”

Gallagher’s technique does not pop in the manner of fellow midfielder, 2022 World Cup winner and January signing Enzo Fernandez; the majority of his contributions on the pitch are not glamorous and not always even that obvious. But he is adept at finding space in which to receive the ball, looks to move it on quickly and is a real asset in a modern pressing system. He also offers a genuine goal threat from midfield and his commitment is never in doubt — two things recent Chelsea history suggests cannot be taken for granted.

He may not be quite good enough to be an automatic starter in a team with serious aspirations to win the title or Champions League, but at the very least Gallagher profiles as the kind of homegrown stalwart that Sir Alex Ferguson frequently utilised to keep Manchester United winning on the pitch while maintaining a culture and standard of accountability off it.

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That is not the sort of player to dispose of lightly, even for a juicy transfer fee. Chelsea’s first-team academy core feels more fragile than ever with Mason Mount and Ruben Loftus-Cheek gone leaving summer, Reece James’ knee a continuing cause for concern, Levi Colwill not yet fully convinced of his importance to this rebuild, Armando Broja feeling his way back from an ACL knee injury in December, Lewis Hall facing a challenging path to consistent first-team minutes and Trevoh Chalobah viewed internally as another saleable asset.

The early indications are that Pochettino recognises Gallagher’s ability to be a valuable contributor.

He can barely afford to think otherwise with the Moises Caicedo negotiations with Brighton stuck at a £30million gulf in valuations, Fernandez being carefully load-managed after a 2022-23 season that saw him rack up more than 4,500 minutes for club and country and Andrey Santos, Carney Chukwuemeka and Cesare Casadei all still more promise than proven pedigree.

Banking £50million or close to it for Gallagher from West Ham, Tottenham Hotspur or another of his Premier League admirers might go a long way towards helping Chelsea shore up their central midfield options this summer — but would simply keeping him around not achieve a similar end?

Edited July 25, 2023 by Vesper

[Vesper 30,083]

Chelsea shortlist two new midfielders as Moises Caicedo talks stall

https://thetopflight.com/2023/07/24/Chelsea-shortlist-moises-caicedo/

Chelsea have seen recent outgoings in their midfield this summer. Big names include Mateo Kovacic departing to Manchester City, and Mason Mount making a controversial switch to Manchester United. While he rarely played in the Chelsea midfield, Kai Havertz has also left, as has N’Golo Kante, joining Al Ittihad on a free transfer. Midfielder Omari Hutchinson has joined Ipswich Town on a season-long loan, while Cesare Casadei is expected to also secure a loan move. Conor Gallagher is also likely to find a new club this summer. So where exactly does that leave their midfield situation?

Chelsea are desperately trying to add Brighton’s Moises Caicedo, but discussions have stalled in recent weeks. The Top Flight has reported recently that Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi stated Caicedo will stay until the owner changes his mind.

Now while it is too earlier to say Chelsea’s talks for Moises Caicedo are over, it certainly feels like there’s growing frustration between the two clubs. The Guardian is now reporting that talks have fully stalled because Brighton insists on wanting Levi Colwill in a Moises Caicedo deal. Additionally, Chelsea is not willing to meet Brighton’s locked-in transfer price of £100m for Caicedo.

Evening Standard is reporting that Mauricio Pochettino is willing to have two more midfielders added to the squad. Enzo Fernandez, Andrey Santos, and Carney Chukwuemeka are the only midfielders currently expected to start the season with the club. While Moises Caicedo is the number one priority, two young midfielders are shortlisted as transfer targets for the club.

Southampton’s Romeo Lavia is once again seen as someone they are keeping a close eye on. Chelsea had a £50M bid for Lavia rejected back in January and could circle back on the Belgian if a Caicedo deal cannot be completed. The other listed midfield target is Celta Vigo’s Gabri Veiga, who has a £34M release clause. Veiga is much more of an attacking option than Caicedo but provides immediate help in the Chelsea midfield. He could be a like-for-like replacement for the departed Mason Mount.

What’s next for Chelsea is seeing how far Brighton are willing to go on standing still on Caicedo talks. If things don’t budge before the season starts, the Blues may move towards the likes of Lavia and Veiga.

[Vesper 30,083]

 

[Thor 2,688]

So no Caceido. That is fine. 

I think he is a beast defensively, but limited offensively. Money can be spent more efficiently. 

[DDA 9,924]

Not as fussed about Caicedo as many on here are. We definitely need a DM but Caicedo isn't worth 100m... no where near. We need to turn our attentions elsewhere... fuck Brighton. 

As for Gallagher... he isn't the kind of player I would like to see start but he is a good squad player to have. I understand selling him for the HG 💰  though.

[Clockwork 1,794]

I personally don't rate Lavia, how we have better alternatives. 

[lucio 5,418]

8 minutes ago, Clockwork said:

I personally don't rate Lavia, how we have better alternatives. 

Lavia for 50m >>>>> caicedo for 100m 

[FrankLampard007 15]

We should rather give Real 100m for Tchouaméni or Camavinga than giving 80m to Brighton for Caicedo. 

Another alternative would be Lavia and Veiga for something like 80-90m. 

But please go away from Caicedo and Brighton who want to fk us up. Caicedo is not worth more than 60m. In 2 years we would sell him for 25m when Santos, Chukwuemeka, Casadei are in their prime time. 

[Strike 7,474]

I don't understand the logic of entertaining bids for Connor when there's no midfielder remotely looking like coming in

[ulvhedin 525]

8 hours ago, Gundalf said:

Better keep him as midfielder nr5. than sell him for peanuts in this overinflated market, which 37m really is. We dont need money. 

Better have a HG player as emergency backup than a non HG tbh. We cant sell all our HGs.

People wanna sell Chalobah, Gallagher, Sterling, we sold Mount, RLC, will sell CHO.

We only have 6 HGs left: James, Chalobah, Chilwell, Sterling, Gallagher, Broja.

If we sell Gallagher and send Broja on loan  its 4. So basically we can only have a 21 man squad, leaving no room for Kudus, Cherki, another GK and so on. At least the club targets Olise, who is homegrown.

We need to keep that HG situation in mind, especially when people talk about selling Chalobah and Sterling.

We have a lot of players that are under 21 which makes it kinda save for this season - but we gotta watch out for that

Betinelli is HG. Colwill, Hall, Maatsen, Chukwu, Madueke are all also HGs, we are covered in this area.

[Artandur 939]

How on earth can you reject 42+5 for Gallagher. I totally get the hard stance we've been taking to get the right amount out of our sales, but that is take-it-and-run kinda money.

[Special Juan 28,089]

And now Lavia talks are on going with Liverpool as of last night- player has given the green light and deal expected to happen very quickly.