Chelsea are “planning talks” with midfielder Conor Gallagher regarding his long-term future at the club, according to the Daily Mail.
The 23-year-old has 21 months remaining on his contract but there have been no discussions, up until now, about extending his stay at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea have made it club policy that they don’t want any player to reach the final 2 years of their current deal, so a big decision needs to be made on whether to keep Gallagher or sell him.
Manager Mauricio Pochettino is clearly a massive fan of the England international, having started him in every league match so far this season.
The club’s hierarchy are also believed to be happy with Gallagher’s contributions, following his strong start to the campaign, although they have reportedly been open to offloading the player until recently.
Two Premier League rivals have tried to sign Gallagher
West Ham had a £40m bid rejected for the midfielder back in July, while Tottenham made a concerted effort to sign him just before the summer transfer window closed.
It’s hard to believe that either team would have made formal approaches for Gallagher if they hadn’t been told that he was available for transfer. Ultimately, though, he stayed at Chelsea, and he has managed to establish himself in the first team.
A Chelsea legend is a big fan of the player
Frank Lampard, who worked with Gallagher during his time as caretaker manager in the second half of last season, has been full of praise for the player’s work ethic:
“He is an amazing character and big talent scoring goals from midfield. As a manager, you see things that those on the outside of the club don’t and when you talk about players wanting to train at a level every day, sometimes you pick a team and people say why do you keep playing Conor Gallagher?”
“Because of his desire to play for the club, the desire to raise standards and train hard. When I went back to the club he trained every day like he really wanted to show something. Being part-time captain gives him a chance to really kick on with his Chelsea career.”
If Gallagher is given a new contract, he will have the opportunity to do just that. We shall see how things develop as talks progress in the coming weeks and months.
