It is every boy’s dream to play for the club they grew up supporting.
Conor Gallagher, however, has already gone one better than that. He not only rose through the ranks at Cobham and endured a series of loan spells on the way, but also eventually captained his local club Chelsea.
The 23-year-old has become a favourite of manager Mauricio Pochettino, and has started all Premier League games that he has been available for this season.
Conor Gallagher next club odds (via Sky Bet)
- Tottenham - 6/4
- Newcastle - 20/1
- West Ham - 25/1
- Crystal Palace - 33/1
Odds correct at 0930 GMT (29/01/24)
He is also the heartbeat of an inexperienced side which is still coming to terms with the upheaval which saw their club sign 25 players for around £1billion in just over 18 months.
The Todd Boehly-led consortium are shrewd operators, and know that this spending will need to be balanced out eventually.
They will also know that apart from Gallagher, they have Moisés Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez, Roméo Lavia, Cole Palmer, Lesley Ugochukwu, Carney Chukwuemeka and Andrey Santos who can fill their three midfield spots.
Only Gallagher from the above list is an academy graduate, which means his entire transfer fee can be booked as profit. This would offer the biggest benefit in balancing the club’s finances to comply with the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules.
It looks like there might be a case of deja vu for fans of the west London club as they will yet again see one of their brightest and most popular homegrown talents sold - just when they need him most.
Conor Gallagher Transfer Value - how much is he worth now?
According to our Player Valuation Model, Gallagher has an Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) of €24.8 million. His value is down from a peak of over €40 million due to a contract which expires in just 18 months.
Gallagher is yet to sign a contract extension, putting him at greater risk of being sold despite Pochettino’s desire to keep him. Asked if he could say for certain whether Gallagher would stay during this transfer window, the manager was very cryptic.
"I think we need to talk about many, many things," Pochettino said.
"I think it's clear that Conor still has a one-and-a-half-year contract with us. That is like all the players in other clubs, you arrive at this point, always about to talk, to make some decisions for the future.
"Of course, it is going to be between the club and the player. But at the moment nothing to announce, nothing to say. The club is happy with him. He is happy here at the moment.”
Tottenham are said to be leading a host of clubs in showing interest, with Ange Postecoglou believed to be a big fan of the Englishman.
The Australian manager is building an exciting project centred around a young and ambitious squad, and would offer a tempting proposition for Gallagher to consider.
But the London rivals rarely do business with each other, and Spurs will need to put a significant amount of money on the table to prise him away this month.
What does Gallagher bring to a team?
Gallagher is not a specialist in any one particular role, but rather someone who can do a bit of everything to a good standard.
On the pitch it might seem like he is always out of position, but that might be down to the positional inconsistency in this Chelsea team.
More importantly, Gallagher has the attributes to add value to different areas of the pitch and allow a team to be more flexible in and out of possession.
The Chelsea number 23 is good on the ball - both in passing and carrying it, he can screen the defence and press, but also arrive in the box to get goals. He also ticks the homegrown box, making him a unique and versatile addition to any squad.
It’s not just that Gallagher can perform these actions, but he tends to outperform his peers at a lot of them.
Compared to other Chelsea midfielders, of which there are quite a few, Gallagher ranks first for key passes, assists, tackles, interceptions, recoveries and successful take-ons P90.
This diverse skillset makes him an all-round midfielder who can competently play the number 6, 8 and 10 roles. He has been doing exactly that for Chelsea this season, and it is no wonder he remains of significant interest for a coach like Postecoglou.
With many of Chelsea's big-money signings struggling to make their mark, the risk of allowing the high-performing Gallagher to leave this month because of financial reasons defies logic.
But a January exit still might not come as such a surprise, given some of the off-pitch decisions made at Stamford Bridge recently. Watch this space.
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