Conor Gallagher

[mdharris]

People probably say the same thing about Sarr - but he has been critical to our early success.

The CM is not only about defending, or creating goals - it's a lot of doing mundane stuff that requires energy and industry to get up and down the pitch, and being available. Its not glamorous, and it does not look like the players are doing much - but it's critical, and, for example, neither PEH nor Skipp can play the 8 role as effectively as Sarr.

Gallagher is that kind of player - that he can play a similar style to Sarr - and that keeps the engine running smoothly.

Thanks. That’s a helpful analysis.

 

[ComfortablyNumb]

I think he's a much higher quality player than many on here give him credit for, and he's only going to get better. A tenacious fucker too.

Don't anticipate seeing him in a Spurs shirt, to be honest, but stranger things have happened.

Like two players in and two out in the first two weeks of a window? And in positions where we knew we needed movement. I'd say anything is possible now...

 

[sidford]

Personally I would prefer that 45m to go towards a striker next summer however Ange ain't silly, he knows we don't have an unlimited budget so he's aware what spending this sort of money on Gallagher means to what we can do in summer.
If he wants him then we do what we have been begging club to do and that's back the manager regardless of whether we think it's right decision or not.

 

[teok]

I tend to not get bogged down in the financials ("is he worth x amount").

He is an incredibly good fit for our team, though. We need a load of central midfielders to rotate that mean we can keep up the intensity for maybe 100+ minutes a game while being technical enough on the ball (plus a few goals).

It's a night and day difference when we are lacking in these areas through injury/suspension and the whole system begins to creak. I think the more teams play us, the more this will be targetted.

 

[tommyt]

We'll ulimately try and sign him based on Ange and the 'club' wanting him and his price / availability, not supporters determination if he is the right player for us or not. Not trying to kill the discussion (which I'm enjoying), but these decisions aren't ours to make - sit back and enjoy the ride!!

 

[HildoSpur]

I'll just add I think it's very unlikely we do get him because he is currently the Chelsea captain and clearly Poch loves him. However Chelsea seem to be in such a mess right now god knows.

 

[Nick-TopSpursMan]

If we spend £45m or so on him I fear Ange will pick him ahead of Sarr, who for me is the far superior player with a much higher ceiling. I’d be gutted if we stall Sarr’s development because of Gallagher.

I also think the type of money being discussed could be much better spent elsewhere. We need far more work in attack imo and could spend £40-50m on a quality young striker like Joshua Zirkzee or on a top quality wide player like Nico Williams.

 

[teok]

If we spend £45m or so on him I fear Ange will pick him ahead of Sarr, who for me is the far superior player with a much higher ceiling. I’d be gutted if we stall Sarr’s development because of Gallagher.

Think about the amount of injuries we get and add on (hopefully) CL games next season. We are struggling as it is. We could also actually rest/rotate players instead of running them into the ground. Look at newcastle in the CL this season.

 

[Led Revolver]

If we spend £45m or so on him I fear Ange will pick him ahead of Sarr, who for me is the far superior player with a much higher ceiling. I’d be gutted if we stall Sarr’s development because of Gallagher.

I also think the type of money being discussed could be much better spent elsewhere. We need far more work in attack imo and could spend £40-50m on a quality young striker like Joshua Zirkzee or on a top quality wide player like Nico Williams.

Not singling you out Nick, but I think this ‘blocking pathways’ of other players business is getting a bit silly. If we suddenly have more really good players that we don’t need, that really isn’t a problem - they will be sellable assets so we can reinvest in someone else that we need/want. That’s even more profitable if they’re homegrown / home trained players.

If the players that we’ve brought through the academy are better than the good players we’ve invested in, that’s not a problem either, they play by merit OR would count as pure profit

‘Blocking players’ shouldn’t be a concern. It’s a competitive industry. We would hold ourselves back waiting for young players to hopefully come good, which is no guarantee whatsoever. It’s small time mentality in my opinion.

The only issue is if we end up with a stagnant squad, and we’ve all watched in slow motion how that turns out.

 

[HildoSpur]

If we spend £45m or so on him I fear Ange will pick him ahead of Sarr, who for me is the far superior player with a much higher ceiling. I’d be gutted if we stall Sarr’s development because of Gallagher.

I also think the type of money being discussed could be much better spent elsewhere. We need far more work in attack imo and could spend £40-50m on a quality young striker like Joshua Zirkzee or on a top quality wide player like Nico Williams.

You are looking at it the wrong way. Ange clearly loves Sarr but he is in danger of getting burnt out from playing every game he is available and because we don't really have suitable rotation options in the squad. It is hugely in Sarr's benefit to have a good quality rotation option to give him a rest when he needs it and to rotate from the bench as required. It also will help to push him on as a player having someone to compete with.

Look at it from a squad building perspective rather than an individual perspective. Having top quality options in midfield is incredibly important.

 

[Nick-TopSpursMan]

Not singling you out Nick, but I think this ‘blocking pathways’ of other players business is getting a bit silly. If we suddenly have more really good players that we don’t need, that really isn’t a problem - they will be sellable assets so we can reinvest in someone else that we need/want. That’s even more profitable if they’re homegrown / home trained players.

If the players that we’ve brought through the academy are better than the good players we’ve invested in, that’s not a problem either, they play by merit.

‘Blocking players’ shouldn’t be a concern. It’s a competitive industry. We would hold ourselves back waiting for young players to hopefully come good, which is no guarantee whatsoever. It’s small time mentality in my opinion.

Yeah you make some good points there,

I guess for me, I’d rather sign that competition as a younger player for a lower fee with a higher ceiling than Gallagher, who can still be good enough to rotate.

This would allow us to use extra funds to strengthen the weakest part of our squad now imo, our attack.

 

[Nick-TopSpursMan]

Of course we may have enough funds to do both, especially if we make the CL for example, in which case fair enough!

 

[HildoSpur]

Yeah you make some good points there,

I guess for me, I’d rather sign that competition as a younger player for a lower fee with a higher ceiling than Gallagher, who can still be good enough to rotate.

This would allow us to use extra funds to strengthen the weakest part of our squad now imo, our attack.

We already strengthened our attack by bringing in Werner, outside of centre back which is also now sorted the glaring gap in our squad is another number 8

 

[Hotspur88]

I think he's a good player, but he's not £45-50m. I'd be happy to take him for say £30m but I don't think he's worth more than that. Ange has been very keen on him from the start and we should be backing the manager. If Ange loves him, the recruitment team like him, he fits our ethos and is viable for the right price then it's a no brainer for me and I'll back the decision 100%. The only way we even entertain it is if PEH leaves (which looks difficult) and they contact us as Trix & WLB have said so it's not something we need to overly discuss as it stands.

 

[Ron Burgundy]

I tend to not get bogged down in the financials ("is he worth x amount").

I get that, but personally I think it creates too simplistic a judgement unless value is considered. THere's an an opportunity cost of any player bought, both in terms of funds not being used elsewhere, and the playing time/exposure that the player gets vs. others that will be deprived of that. I think the money talked about is near enough 'fair value', but could arguably be spent elsewhere given our options at 8.

Not singling you out Nick, but I think this ‘blocking pathways’ of other players business is getting a bit silly. If we suddenly have more really good players that we don’t need, that really isn’t a problem - they will be sellable assets so we can reinvest in someone else that we need/want. That’s even more profitable if they’re homegrown / home trained players.

If the players that we’ve brought through the academy are better than the good players we’ve invested in, that’s not a problem either, they play by merit.

‘Blocking players’ shouldn’t be a concern. It’s a competitive industry. We would hold ourselves back waiting for young players to hopefully come good, which is no guarantee whatsoever. It’s small time mentality in my opinion.

Yes and no. We should always think about creating competitive tension with quality and depth within the squad, but it's not quite as simple as you make out.

Gallagher is an 8 for me. He'll potentially develop so that he can play 6 to the same level. I doubt he'll ever be a 10.

I would argue that's the same characterisation/description as both Bentancur (one of our very best players) and Sarr (arguably his back up, and one of our best youngsters). And we haven't even mentioned Gio - it's his best position too IMO.

It's fair to say that we now have a starting player in many (but arguably not all) positions that is genuinely top class. But could you say that about the back up as well? Certainly not IMO. We shouldn't get players in for the hell of it - we need to consider squad balance and playing time. I'd argue 8 is one of our strongest positions.

I like Gallagher. I think he's a good player who I think will improve over time. But, if everyone is in form, he doesn't get in the first team for me, and he's not obviously superior to Sarr. Probably a bit, but not hugely.

I ask myself this: Do we really need 3 specialist 8s, when we could even add the likes of Maddison there in a pinch, and when there are other areas of the squad that arguably still need attention?

We don't have infinite cash. I'm not sold on this one.

 

[Ron Burgundy]

We already strengthened our attack by bringing in Werner, outside of centre back which is also now sorted the glaring gap in our squad is another number 8

Glaring gap? I honestly just don't see that.

Bentancur starts
Sarr supports/rotates
Gio supports/rotates
Maddison covers in a pinch
We could go even deeper if you'd like - Skipp can play there (maybe his best position?) and in the future, it's probably where Devine will end up.

I'd argue we're missing a back up 6 much, much more so than 8.

 

[HildoSpur]

I think he's a good player, but he's not £45-50m. I'd be happy to take him for say £30m but I don't think he's worth more than that. Ange has been very keen on him from the start and we should be backing the manager. If Ange loves him, the recruitment team like him, he fits our ethos and is viable for the right price then it's a no brainer for me and I'll back the decision 100%. The only way we even entertain it is if PEH leaves (which looks difficult) and they contact us as Trix & WLB have said so it's not something we need to overly discuss as it stands.

I'd say the current Chelsea captain who is an England international and still only 23 would probably be fair enough around 40 million when you consider the mental prices you see going about. As you say if he is the number one target for Ange for this position then we should make every effort to get him. As you say though I'll be very surprised if he leaves Chelsea.

 

[HildoSpur]

Glaring gap? I'd argue we're missing a back up 6 much more so than 8

Who has the same profile as Sarr in our squad? Nobody I'd say. We have Bissouma, Bentancur and at a stretch Lo Celso who can play the number 6 role. Our current rotation options for the 8 are hojberg and Skipp. That's nowhere near good enough.

 

[Ron Burgundy]

Who has the same profile as Sarr in our squad? Nobody I'd say. We have Bissouma, Bentancur and at a stretch Lo Celso who can play the number 6 role. Our current rotation options for the 8 are hojberg and Skipp. That's nowhere near good enough.

We'll have to agree to disagree there.

Sarr is an 8
Bentancur is an 8, who can cover 6
Gio is an 8 - he'll never be a 6

For me, Bissouma is our main 6. Bentancur can play there, but then you're taking him away from, IMO, his best position

 

[Hotspur88]

I'd say the current Chelsea captain who is an England international and still only 23 would probably be fair enough around 40 million when you consider the mental prices you see going about. As you say if he is the number one target for Ange for this position then we should make every effort to get him. As you say though I'll be very surprised if he leaves Chelsea.

He WAS a top target before he arrived so that very well may have changed with the performances of Sarr etc. I'm not saying he still isn't a top target but I think the need for him isn't as great. And my valuation is just that, it's what I would be happy to pay for him, not necessarily his market value.