It was always bound to be a busy summer for Chelsea Football Club, given their appointment of a new manager and the need to stay on the right side of Financial Fair Play. Not to mention the chance for owner, Todd Boehly, to flex his muscles again in the transfer market. The American’s spending since taking over from Roman Abramovich has blown his rivals out of the water, but success has still eluded the West London outfit. That has to change under Enzo Maresca, but as with Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter and Mauricio Pochettino before him, the Italian needs time. Chelsea will sell Conor Gallagher… for an important fee. Time to get used to working as the manager at a big club and everything that entails, time for the players to understand his way of working, and time to get results. Winning on demand is rarely a successful way of going about things, but that would appear to be the hand that Maresca has allowed himself to be dealt.
The future of one player in particular is still up in the air, though it could be resolved at some point given Chelsea’s firm stance. “At the moment, the Conor Gallagher situation has gone completely quiet because he is still really focused on Chelsea. Conor is not desperate to leave Chelsea. He loves the club so he would be more than happy to stay and fight for them as he’s always, always showing,” Fabrizio Romano said to CaughtOffside for his exclusive Daily Briefing. “But at the same time, there is interest from Aston Villa and there is interest from Tottenham. They already wanted Conor Gallagher one year ago and were considering him as a top target, but then Chelsea decided against selling him last summer. Now the situation is really open again around Conor Gallagher because Villa’s interest is total. Chelsea’s position is clear. They want more than £50m for Conor because they see him as a really important player. “[…] So, this is the current situation around the player, for sure, one to watch in this summer transfer window.”
With Gallagher expected to remain with England for the upcoming European Championship, he’ll surely not want to be disturbed by news of his potential sale. As Romano says, the 24-year-old’s preference is crystal clear and yet the decision could be taken completely out of his hands. If nothing else, the plain fact that Boehly is willing to sell his captain – one of the most important players in the squad – tells you all you need to know about what players can expect when they sign for Chelsea now. Success is clearly what is craved, so the hope will be that any sale of Gallagher doesn’t come back to bite the club.
