Conor Gallagher

[Basil Brush]

This Connor Gallagher needs to be nipped in the bud once and for all !

ain’t ever going to happen . Certainly not this window if ever , I agree we need another option in midfield it really is the missing link to what is a fantastic squad we are building.

But spurs and Chelsea doing business and even if they did is the player likely to want to leave his boyhood club where he is often captain ?

if we are goi g to throw £50m at a homegrown midfielder then MGW at Forest should be our main target he can cover any of 5 positions from midfield to attack

I know this is the Gallagher thread but just on Morgan Gibbs White, I did read somewhere we are looking at him, but can't find source. I don't think it was a great source anyway and he may be out of our price range.

Anyway back on topic, I agree that I can't see Chelsea selling us Gallagher unless we overpay.

 

[purplemonkey]

He’s going to be overpriced but if we have to pay a £15-20m premium for a player that Ange has specifically requested, then so be it. The likes of Udogie, Vicario, Sarr, Bentancur, Kulusevski and Maddison were absurdly good value so we can afford to overspend on certain signings if it makes sense to do so.

Does Gallagher make sense? I guess the case would be that he’s HG, he’s PL proven, he has leadership qualities, he’s versatile enough to compete and rotate with any of our starting XI midfielders, he’s super durable with no injury record to speak of, and his signing would probably allow us to dispense with two of our lesser rated or reliable midfielders in Skipp/PEH/GLC. Resale value is probably the least of our concerns if he’s a long term signing to fill our HG quota. Even if Ange left, he’s the kind of player any manager would like to have available so there’s low to no risk of him being moved on.

Hard to say what makes him essential rather than a luxury signing for Ange, but there’s no reason not to back him unless he’s turning down worldies from the scouting department.

 

[worcestersauce]

I still don't get why Chelsea would sell arguably one of their best players this season to a direct rival. They'd be a bit knackered without him?

Money!
They need to get wages off the books and they can't get a return on the recent purchases at the prices they paid whereas he's academy trained so pure profit and savings, it's why they sold Mount. No doubt they'd like to send him to Saudi for some inflated fee but he won't go there and I'm sure they'd prefer a non rival but if we're what they've got to deal with they'll do the deal.

 

[SirHarryHotspur]

If Capology are right Gallaher is on pretty low wages so the only benefit to Chelsea really is a high transfer fee .

2023-2024 Chelsea Salaries and Contracts

Capology | Football Salaries & Finances

www.capology.com

 

[worcestersauce]

If Capology are right Gallaher is on pretty low wages so the only benefit to Chelsea really is a high transfer fee .

2023-2024 Chelsea Salaries and Contracts

Capology | Football Salaries & Finances

www.capology.com

But if they keep him it'll require a new contract and he won't sign one on the same wages, they'll have to go up so either way they're buggered. They either up their wage bill or let his contract run out and lose his transfer fee, to be honest they've got to sell.

 

[SirHarryHotspur]

But if they keep him it'll require a new contract and he won't sign one on the same wages, they'll have to go up so either way they're buggered. They either up their wage bill or let his contract run out and lose his transfer fee, to be honest they've got to sell.

That's true , seems they are paying the price for bizarre transfer dealings and some overpaid players at the top of their wage bill.

 

[Meercat]

I assume it’s a case of sell him for 45m, ifs pure profit in the books. Buy 4 players at 40m to replace him, ammorterise the contracts over 5 years, that’s 32m a year, so the books still show 13m profit and they have an expensive refresh of a couple of positions and stay within FFP, so you can see why they’d sell. Same for Newcastle with Longstaff.

 

[worcestersauce]

I assume it’s a case of sell him for 45m, ifs pure profit in the books. Buy 4 players at 40m to replace him, ammorterise the contracts over 5 years, that’s 32m a year, so the books still show 13m profit and they have an expensive refresh of a couple of positions and stay within FFP, so you can see why they’d sell. Same for Newcastle with Longstaff.

To be honest it's not just about the amortisation it's the wages so buying four players will increase their wage bill irrespective of transfer fees. In 2025 they've got to get their wage bill down to 70% of turnover.

 

[sidford]

I watched the second half of the game with my Chelsea supporting husband - I like to bait him a bit so spoke about Gallagher being sold - he said that “without him and Palmer, what have we got. They are the ones holding this together.”

He's my old man's favourite Chelsea player. There's a reason so many Chelsea fans like him and also palace fans after how he did there.
These are the people who watch him every game not just like most of us who only see him the odd match or highlights.
With Chelsea getting another injury to nkunku (sp) they may need this cash more than ever if they need to try get a replacement.

 

[dontcallme]

He's my old man's favourite Chelsea player. There's a reason so many Chelsea fans like him and also palace fans after how he did there.
These are the people who watch him every game not just like most of us who only see him the odd match or highlights.
With Chelsea getting another injury to nkunku (sp) they may need this cash more than ever if they need to try get a replacement.

Agree.

Football fans aren't always the best judge of a player but in general listening to ones watching him every game is not a bad place to start.

Over the years I've heard so many opposing fans over rate some of our weaker players because they look good on highlights and under rate our best.

 

[SirHarryHotspur]

To be honest it's not just about the amortisation it's the wages so buying four players will increase their wage bill irrespective of transfer fees. In 2025 they've got to get their wage bill down to 70% of turnover.

Chelsea are on the brink with wage ratio so could well sell Gallaher in the summer , doubt very much he will move this window.
According to Delloite figures wage ratio for Chelsea in 2020 77%, 2021 77% 2022 71% , with no euro football this season their revenue will be down so could be interesting by the time 2025 figures come out.

 

[dontcallme]

Chelsea are on the brink with wage ratio so could well sell Gallaher in the summer , doubt very much he will move this window.
According to Delloite figures wage ratio for Chelsea in 2020 77%, 2021 77% 2022 71% , with no euro football this season their revenue will be down so could be interesting by the time 2025 figures come out.

It's an interesting one. It seems we're showing the most interest right now but are unlikely to meet a £40m asking price.

If they wait until the summer, others might come in for him but if not then with a year left on his contract, his price is only going down.

 

[SirHarryHotspur]

It's an interesting one. It seems we're showing the most interest right now but are unlikely to meet a £40m asking price.

If they wait until the summer, others might come in for him but if not then with a year left on his contract, his price is only going down.

Various stories going around on his price and whether he is staying or going.
I don't see how we could sign him now with our current quota of midfield players. I know people say so and so doesn't fit the Ange system but when Biss & Sarr come back and it's possible that it could be sooner and not at the very end of Afcon, we would have a midfield choice of Biss, Sarr, Madders, Rodrigo, Lo Celso, PEH and Skipp plus if Timo ties down a regular front spot Deki could also be in the running for a midfield spot, eight players for three postions.

 

[dontcallme]

Various stories going around on his price and whether he is staying or going.
I don't see how we could sign him now with our current quota of midfield players. I know people say so and so doesn't fit the Ange system but when Biss & Sarr come back and it's possible that it could be sooner and not at the very end of Afcon, we would have a midfield choice of Biss, Sarr, Madders, Rodrigo, Lo Celso, PEH and Skipp plus if Timo ties down a regular front spot Deki could also be in the running for a midfield spot, eight players for three postions.

Fair points. In a perfect world you want 2 outfield players for each position of similar ability.

I think Kulusevski's performances in the centre means we now have that for the playmaker role alongside Maddison.

In centre midfield we have Sarr, Bentancur and Bissouma. The 4th could be Lo Celso but he keeps getting injured and this summer I believe he'll have 1 more year on his contract. I think Hojbjerg and Skipp are a step below. Hojbjerg will almost certainly go in the summer if he doesn't go this month. Skipp is good for 5th choice.

One problem I generally have with the January window is availability is low and getting top targets often means overpaying.

Gallagher though could be the right player to join our central midfield.

It's not an immediate necessity but unless Lo Celso signs a new contract and can get fit, we're going to need another central midfielder by the summer.

 

[Cinemattis]

We could mix it & get a 7?

#JustSaying

Back in the good old days (esp. in the Italian system) #7 was always the right winger.

 

[Styopa]

Various stories going around on his price and whether he is staying or going.
I don't see how we could sign him now with our current quota of midfield players. I know people say so and so doesn't fit the Ange system but when Biss & Sarr come back and it's possible that it could be sooner and not at the very end of Afcon, we would have a midfield choice of Biss, Sarr, Madders, Rodrigo, Lo Celso, PEH and Skipp plus if Timo ties down a regular front spot Deki could also be in the running for a midfield spot, eight players for three postions.

Any deal probably hinges on Hojbjerg and/or Skipp moving on.

But even if Skipp or Hojbjerg stay, it doesn’t mean Ange has to use them if he has better options.

So we can say eight players for three positions is too much, but don’t forget the other day Ange mentioned having no centre backs (hence playing Emerson there) despite having the option of a senior centre back in Dier for the first half of the season. Ange may decide some of these guys are just no longer seriously in contention, so it’s not really a choice of eight for three it might be six for three.

 

[Cinemattis]

Well letters are too complicated so what we thinking should we use sounds instead?
A quiet stealth fart represents a Xavi Alonso
A loud ripper a Roy Keane
A muffled squeak a Van Der Vaart

What’s the sound of Vinny Jones? Must be cracking’…?

 

[goughie1966]

He's my old man's favourite Chelsea player. There's a reason so many Chelsea fans like him and also palace fans after how he did there.
These are the people who watch him every game not just like most of us who only see him the odd match or highlights.
With Chelsea getting another injury to nkunku (sp) they may need this cash more than ever if they need to try get a replacement.

Equally Chelsea fans may be biased towards 'one of their own' and can't see fault in a player at all because he runs around a lot and gets stuck in.

 

[hutchiniho]

I think if CG is available even with a slight over spend, we must act on this one and mover Skipp or Hojbjerg second. It does sound as though PEH has plenty of suitors and Skipp doesn’t really have a star quality in a single facet of the game.
CG is clearly perfect for Postecoglu’s system. Top three for pressing the opposition and the best player in the whole league for applying pressure in the opponents half.
With the Home grown, age and Captain like leadership skills tags also there, I’m sure that would be Ange’s dream 8.
If there’s a hint Chelsea might sell, Skipp and Hojbjerg should follow rather than facilitate the move.

 

[SirHarryHotspur]

Next question if we did sign Gallaher does he start or is this most people's choice Rodrigo, Sarr & Madders