Chelsea could raise cash without selling Tottenham target Conor Gallagher

In a major blow to Tottenham’s pursuit of the player, it has now come to the fore that Spurs’ target Conor Gallagher has a chance of staying put at Stamford Bridge amid FFP troubles for Chelsea. Mauricio Pochettino’s side apparently still has ways to raise cash even if they do not let go of Gallagher, whose sale would reflect as a pure profit within the books as he is a graduate of the Cobham Academy.

According to transfer journalist Ben Jacobs, Chelsea have numerous players they could sell to generate enough funds to not breach PSR and FFP rules. According to previous beliefs, Chelsea had to sell Gallagher among other names to ensure they were not violating any rules. However, with Jacobs’ latest revelation, Chelsea can breathe a sigh of relief that they do not have to necessarily sell one of their best players, and Tottenham might have to redirect their transfer business. Here is what the journalist exclusively told GiveMeSport:

“We mustn’t forget that Chelsea feel they can get £30m/£35m for Ian Maatsen. The obligation to buy for Lewis Hall is expected to kick in, and that’s £30m plus. You’ve got Romelu Lukaku, who Chelsea feel they can still get £35m for. Trevoh Chalobah is surplus to requirements. Marc Cucurella, it’s not unthinkable that he would be sold for the right price. Armando Broja is for sale and on loan at Fulham. If that works out, perhaps Fulham would be prepared to drop £35m or something in that ballpark. So if you discount Conor Gallagher and add up all of those other names and fees, even if just two or three of the four or five of those names were sold, that’s still going to be £70m to £100m.”

Counting only the rough figures for the fringes and players out on loan has gone up to £70m-£100m. However, Chelsea will also know that they can fetch a significant portion of the assumed £70m with just one sale, and that would be that of Gallagher, who has been absolutely brilliant this season under Mauricio Pochettino, also leading the side on multiple occasions in the absence of first-choice captain Reece James and vice-captain Ben Chilwell.

Gallagher to the Lilywhites?

The Epsom-born versatile midfielder has 10 G/A this season, including four goals in 36 appearances across all competitions. While most of his appearances have come in attacking midfield areas this season, he has also extensively featured as a defensive midfielder. He has also racked in nine appearances playing in central midfield exclusively.

For Tottenham, he would fit in like a glove in Ange Postecoglou’s style of football. For starters, he is great at recycling possession. Considering he would play in a midfield three behind James Maddison and alongside Rodrigo Bentancur, by the looks of it, it seems a strong and tough midfield. Think of Gallagher as a polished version of Yves Bissouma or Pape Matar Sarr and how we dominated teams in the early parts of the campaign before all hell broke loose in the Chelsea game in November.

Gallagher is the perfect balance of industry and flair that we need. Madders is the creative output of the squad while Bentancur covers that box-to-box role in an exemplary fashion on the right side of midfield. On the left, someone like Gallagher can do it all, run all over the ground and also provide the odd goal here and there. The best part about Gallagher is he is not exclusive to a single position on the field and can fit into any system flawlessly as evidenced by his previous loan spells at West Brom Albion, playing a low-block, Crystal Palace playing a sense of high-press, attacking football and Chelsea obviously, where we have yet to find out how they play.

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Now, we have to find a way to ensure Chelsea fall into further FPP problems for them to let go of Gallagher. Jokes apart, everything has a price and while it may be a potential setback that it would not be the Blues’ last resort, it is not the end of the world for Tottenham. Not at all. It simply means we must recalibrate our transfer telescope and set sail for new shores of opportunity.

In essence, Chelsea might not be in dire need of sacrificing Gallagher to balance their books. It turns out they’ve got a whole lineup of players who could fetch a pretty penny in the transfer market. However, they are also not doing very well and might need to shake things up which might force them to do away with Gallagher, leaving the Lilywhites with a window wherein they could lure Gallagher out of Fulham Road.