Ex-Chelsea midfielder Emmanuel Petit has expressed his frustration at his former club’s decision to sell Conor Gallagher.
It was confirmed on Sunday night/early Monday morning that Gallagher had accepted an offer from Atletico Madrid. He is expected to undergo a medical ahead of completing a €40m (£34m) move to Spain. However, speaking to Gambling Zone, Petit said that the club should have received more money for a player who performed so well last season:
“£30 million? He’s probably the best midfielder in the squad. How can Gallagher be worth £30 million is Manuel Ugarte is worth £60 or £70 million? It doesn’t make sense to me. I don’t get it. I don’t understand the decisions being made at the club. They must sell players because they signed so many and are counting the cost of those mistakes in the transfer market. £30 million for Conor Gallagher is a bargain in this market.”
Petit feels that Chelsea have been trying to offload Gallagher for some time and he is disappointed with the club’s overall treatment of academy players:
“They should have done more to keep him. They’ve been trying to sell him for two years. I think he’s been disrespected. They should have offered him a contract in line with the best-paid players at the club. Give him the same money you offered to those players who are strangers to the fans and who aren’t academy players.”
“Chelsea need to be careful. It’s really important to keep those English players, players that have grown up in the club, in the squad. You need them there to set the standards and to keep the culture. Chelsea should have done everything they could to convince him to stay. I thought he improved a lot last season. His performances and development were a pleasant surprise. They’ve put him under pressure. They gave him an ultimatum, which was ‘sign the contract or we’ll sell you’. If I was Gallagher, I would be screaming with anger.”
Gallagher’s contract situation forced Chelsea’s hand
While £34m is not a huge fee for a 24-year-old England international, the low price was dictated by the fact that he had less than a year left on his contract.
Reports suggest that Gallagher turned down more than one offer to extend his stay at Stamford Bridge. However, we don’t know the details of the salary on offer. As Petit points out, others at the club are getting paid much more than he is so he may have only been demanding similar terms to some of his teammates.
A move to Atletico is expected to be finalised within days
It is believed that at least two other Premier League clubs made offers for Gallagher. Tottenham, Newcastle and West Ham are the teams who have shown a lot of interest in the midfielder over the last year so they were the likeliest candidates to have been involved.
As things stand, though, it seems everything is now set for Gallagher to make the switch to Atletico; ending his 16-year association with Chelsea.
