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CONOR GALLAGHER is tipped to leave English Premiership soccer club Chelsea this summer.
Just as he was in January, last summer and the January before that. At some point, something has to give and with barely a year left on his contract things are coming to a head.
The clash between Chelsea and Manchester United was a timely reminder of how things have not changed at Stamford Bridge when it comes to muddled negotiations with players – particularly home grown ones.
Mason Mount was due back at Stamford Bridge nine months after being sold for £60m when he was in precisely the same position as Gallagher is now.
The symmetry is compelling and should be concerning for Chelsea as they prepare for yet another worrying summer of transfer dealings, as they hover dangerously close to breaching strict spending rules.
There is just a year in age between Conor Gallagher and his old stablemate Mount. Both grew up at Chelsea’s renowned academy in Surrey and saw off competition from within and from outside, to force their way into the first-team set up at one of the most successful clubs in the world.
But with the change of ownership two years ago, came a change in priorities from above that coincided with a clampdown on reckless spending. Most owners are thinking twice now about splashing the cash because of the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules.
Not so Americans, Todd Boehly and his sidekick Behdad Eghbali. A one billion pound super-spend on an entirely new squad means the money has to be clawed back by other means.
Mount was the first victim of this. With roughly two-and-a-half years left on his contract, negotiations collapsed. They never really resumed. And with 12 months left on his deal, Mount left the club he had served since aged eight.
The fee is logged as pure profit and it will be the same with Gallagher, when and if Tottenham finally do get their horse in gear and strike a deal for the midfielder who has carried his team for a significant part of this stuttering season.
Gallagher is popular with the fans as “one of our own” – his energy, drive and ability to score vital goals in the nick of time makes him valuable in every sense.
Player transfer value is at its highest when they have two years left on their contracts. Mount slipped past that point and Chelsea have let it slide with Gallagher too. Accountants can argue that 60m pounds is a good price for Mount.
Unfortunately, he has been injured much of this season and needs to start paying back on the investment. He scored his first goal for Man Utd at the weekend and football fate is primed for him to return to Stamford Bridge and do further damage.
What should have been the easiest contract in history to thrash out became a standoff and ultimately a bitter parting of the ways. Chelsea have to make up their minds about Gallagher. It is evident that they set the bar too high in transfer dealings.
Demanding 50m pounds for another academy graduate, Armando Broja, last January proves that. He is now on loan and warming the bench at Fulham.
Although it was under the previous regime, Antonio Rudiger was allowed to walk away from Stamford Bridge into the arms of Real Madrid for nothing. Same for Andreas Christensen and Barcelona.
Eghbali and Chelsea overlord Paul Winstanley need to get a grip and get realistic.
If Gallagher does not sign a deal this summer or is sold, it will be another stick for the already frustrated fans to beat the new owners with, as they look up at their rivals from the bottom half of the table. (Source: www.thesun.co.uk)
Online Reporter