Tottenham are considering a move for Conor Gallagher. The Chelsea midfielder is out of contract in 17 months and the west London club are willing to listen to offers. Selling an academy product would help their financial fair play position.
It would not be a popular move with Chelsea fans, though. Gallagher has been an important player for Mauricio Pochettino this season and has captained the team on occasion. He is also from a family of Chelsea fans.
There is no doubt Chelsea would sell him for the right price. They were seeking at least £50m last summer, when Spurs were willing to pay £35m and West Ham had a bid of £37m plus add‑ons turned down.
It would be a surprise if a deal went through before the deadline on Thursday night. Even if Spurs offer a big enough fee, it is not certain Gallagher would accept the move. His preference has been to stay and play in the Carabao Cup final.
Spurs would realistically need to sell Pierre-Emile Højbjerg to free up space and funds for Gallagher and a further issue is that the former intends to stay put. Højbjerg’s lawyer, Lars Halgreen, said on Monday that his client “never asked to leave now.” He added: “His only focus is Tottenham to finish the season well and to help as much as possible.”
Højbjerg, who is under contract until June 2025, has appeared in all but one of Spurs’s games this season. A further complicating factor in terms of Chelsea and Gallagher is that there has been no movement towards the England international signing a new deal. Chelsea do not want players running down contracts.
The Chelsea forward Armando Broja is of interest to Fulham. A move would probably hinge on Carlos Vinícius leaving Fulham and even then there is no guarantee a deal could be struck with the Blues, who rejected an attempt by Wolves to take the Albania international on loan. If Broja goes, it would likely be on loan with an option to buy.
Crystal Palace are closing in on an agreement for Blackburn midfielder Adam Wharton, with the 19-year-old having travelled to London for a medical. It is understood the fee will be more than £20m after Palace’s initial bid of £18.5m was rejected last week.
Wharton, who signed a new five-year contract in December after an outstanding campaign in the Championship, is wanted by Roy Hodgson after Cheick Doucouré was ruled out for the season in November. Wharton was Blackburn’s young player of the season last season and has previously attracted interest from Newcastle and Wolves.
Palace, who face Sheffield United on Tuesday evening in a crucial Premier League match, have confirmed the signing of the Colombia right-back Daniel Muñoz from Genk on a three-year deal.
West Ham are keen to sign a winger on loan but their hopes of getting Jota appear to be fading because of tax issues. The Portuguese left Celtic for Al-Ittihad last summer but it has not worked out for him in Saudi Arabia. Jota turned down a loan to Al-Ettifaq and wants to return to the UK, where he would be open to an 18-month loan at West Ham, but the tax liability that would come with the move is proving to be a barrier.
West Ham have also looked at Nordsjælland’s Ibrahim Osman but have cooled their interest in the 19-year-old winger because of the asking price. Osman could be a target for Brighton this week.
Lyon have made a bid of just over £15m for Saïd Benrahma and although the Algerian winger had been reluctant to leave West Ham that move is edging closer to being done. The midfielder Pablo Fornals is also likely to leave, for Real Betis.
Plymouth Argyle have turned down a bid from Lazio for Morgan Whittaker, according to their director of football, Neil Dewsnip. “Last night we received an official offer for Morgan from Lazio,” Dewsnip told Plymouth Live. “Having discussed this internally and with the player’s representatives, the offer was immediately rejected. Morgan is very happy at Argyle and we maintain our position that he is not for sale.”
