Conor Gallagher is up for sale again. January signals the fourth consecutive transfer window this Cobham kid has reportedly been on the chopping block under Todd Boehly’s ownership, but the first in which he is a crucial figure for the club.
In the penalty shootout win over Newcastle, eventual player of the match Gallagher made 142 touches and completed 105 of his 115 passes, including all five of his long balls and one key pass.
He won each of his three tackles and three aerial duels, while also hitting the crossbar and scoring his penalty. He wore the captain’s armband for the ninth time this season, continually rallying and motivating his teammates as the frustration of a seemingly inevitable, largely undeserved defeat threatened to take root.
It used to be an insult to say Gallagher was the sort of player you noticed. He attempted to be everywhere and often ended up nowhere in the process, overeager and overactive and overstimulating to watch. Yet Mauricio Pochettino has helped focus his mind, providing him with purpose, using him as a fundamental bonding agent for his otherwise disparate collection of stars-to-be.
“For me, he is the type of player that the club needs to have,” Pochettino said recently. “He is in the starting 11 in nearly all the games and is one of the captains.”
Yet as the Argentine also said, keeping Gallagher is not his decision. Reports suggest the midfielder has refused to sign a long-term contract of around eight years, preferring the flexibility of a shorter deal. He only has 18 months left on his current deal, and the club are keen to avoid a Mason Mount-esque contract limbo.
It’s not necessarily that Gallagher wants to leave, as he’s made clear recently in interviews, he’s just unsure on his long-term position at the club as further signings continue to be rumoured.
Having grown up a Chelsea fan 10 minutes from Cobham with a Chelsea-supporting father, he’s been clear that he considers captaining the club is the greatest honour of his young life.
Yet he only became a regular starter in Frank Lampard’s 11-game stint in charge, before developing rapidly under Pochettino. There’s every chance a managerial or personnel change would curtail his game time, something he is desperately keen to avoid.
The reasons to sell Gallagher are entirely financial, the consequence of summer overspending and a model which views academy products as cash cows. His potential £50m transfer fee would count as “pure profit” in Financial Fair Play (FFP) terms, ensuring Chelsea remain compliant after unparalleled spending.
Yet Gallagher’s rumoured exit perfectly embodies the dangers of Chelsea’s rigid transfer policy, the pitfalls of attempting to solve football via financial formulas and an immovable plan. There’s little point in planning for the future when your present is so volatile and uncertain.
If every player in the squad is on at least a five-year contract, you risk being unable to move them on, hamstrung by your previous business as your cohort of disgruntled outliers grows and grows. It is alright for Gallagher to provide what Chelsea needs now and in the coming seasons, without also needing to do the same in 2030. Punishing him for attempting to protect his prospects will also punish Pochettino, the fans and the players, stripping away a foundational block of the new Chelsea.
None of this is saying Gallagher is the perfect player, or that he’s totally irreplaceable in the long term, but his significance to this iteration of Chelsea’s rebirth is undeniable.
Concerns over his lack of end product and his disciplinary record are both reasonable, but he also has the seemingly rare quality of consistent fitness.
Gallagher has started all but one of the 20 games he’s been available for this season and has never had a significant injury in his professional career. For a side with nine current injury absentees, this should not be underappreciated.
This would also be perhaps the worst time to lose Gallagher as Chelsea can finally attempt to achieve some stability, both in midfield and across the club as a whole.
A kind fixture run means they face only one top-eight Premier League side before 17 February. Christopher Nkunku is finally fit once again, making his competitive debut at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday. Chelsea have won consecutive games and the gritty manner of the Newcastle win may well inspire a sorely-missed sense of self-belief and unity.
As Chelsea continues to wrangle with its new identity, Gallagher provides the link that Reece James cannot from the treatment room. As one of their own, he instinctively understands the fanbase, innately appreciating what Chelsea means in a time it barely appears to know itself.
Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo, both £100m-plus assets viewed as foundational tenets of Chelsea’s future, rely on Gallagher to flourish, as does the entire tactical system. No player has won possession in the final third more times than the Englishman’s 23 this season across all seven top European leagues, a key principle in all Pochettino’s sides.
If Boehly and co-owner Behdad Eghbali were to sanction Gallagher’s January exit simply to protect their financial interests, to counterbalance their own extravagance, they would deserve whatever disastrous consequences ensued. You cannot build for the future without first protecting the present.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/mBVtFnJ
Post a Comment