Ex-Spurs scout wants Tottenham to go all out for the signing of Atletico Madrid midfielder Conor Gallagher
Tottenham Hotspur were keen to sign a central midfielder in the summer. They were interested in Atletico Madrid’s Conor Gallagher, having been admirers of his talent since his days at Chelsea.
Conor Gallagher has not been a regular for Atletico Madrid since arriving from Chelsea in the summer of 2024. He was in and out of Diego Simeone’s side during his debut campaign, and the pattern continues to be the same this season too. The midfielder has started just one La Liga game thus far, which is not great for someone aiming to book a place in the England squad for the 2026 World Cup.
Tottenham are continuing to show an interest in the Epson-born talent after failing to land him in the last few transfer windows. This is because Thomas Frank has made it a priority to sign a new central midfielder during the January transfer window.
Tottenham told to splash big to sign Conor Gallagher
Having only signed him on a long contract in 2024 and now with Spurs again showing an interest, Atletico Madrid have toughened their stance regarding a potential sale of Gallagher. Given his apparent importance to Diego Simeone, Los Rojiblancos are now believed to be not entertaining the idea of losing the midfielder for anything below £52million.
However, ex-Spurs scout Bryan King feels the north London club would not be scared by Atletico’s asking price for their valuable asset.
“I’d certainly pay £52m for Gallagher,” Bryan King exclusively told Tottenham News.
“Tottenham think they’ll need another central midfield player, especially one of his quality.
“Why would Atletico want to sell him if he’s been doing quite well? At that price, he must have been doing quite well.
“Is it because he’s fed up with trying to learn Spanish? Maybe he wants to come back to London, that could be the reason. I think maybe the novelty of living in Madrid may have worn off. They like foreign players to learn the language, maybe he’s finding that a difficult part of settling in.”
Spurs must go for Gallagher in January
One would expect Yves Bissouma to depart in January as he has no future under Frank at Tottenham. Spurs would do everything possible to cash Bissouma in, having failed to offload the Malian midfielder in the summer.
Even if Rodrigo Bentancur pens a new deal, Frank’s side would require a midfielder to not only potentially replace Bissouma, but also fill the void left by Pape Matar Sarr for the AFCON. Gallagher, in that regard, could make a lot of sense.
The England international knows the Premier League well, so he’d be a reliable option with no adaptability issue. A leader, tenacious tackler, technically sound and blessed with great engine, the 26-year-old would bring competition for the likes of Lucas Bergvall, Joao Palhinha, Bentancur and Sarr. If Gallagher does not gets regular minutes from now until late December, he might push to go out on loan from Atletico in a bid to play regularly and enhance his chances of World Cup call-up.
Should that happen, Spurs must be all over it. If not and Atletico want £52m for Gallagher’s services, we must pay it.