Tottenham Hotspur are confident of finalising a £35million deal for Conor Gallagher after hijacking Aston Villa’s move for the England midfielder.
Tottenham’s offer is likely to be accepted by Atletico Madrid, who want a permanent sale to in effect recoup the £35million they paid to Chelsea for him in 2024.
Tottenham tried to sign the 25-year-old as a possible replacement for Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg in August 2023, but they could not agree a deal with their west London rivals.
Villa, in contrast, had been trying to sign him on an initial loan with the potential to buy this summer and were confident Gallagher was intent on joining them before Tottenham intervened. Gallagher has now told Atletico that he plans to join Tottenham.
Gallagher takes on England team-mate Jude Bellingham during last week’s Spanish Super Cup semi-final against Real Madrid
ALTAF QADRI/AP
Gallagher has started only four of 19 La Liga matches for Diego Simeone’s side this season, scoring twice, and three of their six Champions League games. Last season he started in 19 of his 32 league appearances, scoring three goals and contributing three assists.
Gallagher won the latest of his 22 England caps when he started against Senegal in a 3-1 friendly defeat last summer, but he was omitted from the autumn squads by Thomas Tuchel.
Villa showed an interest in him in June 2024, at a time when both they and Chelsea were under pressure to do deals to comply with Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) for the 2023-24 season.
He instead moved to Madrid and, as Gallagher was a homegrown player, his sale counted as pure profit for Chelsea in the PSR calculation. The west London club felt they could find a midfielder who was technically superior to their academy product.
Gallagher scored eight goals and set up another three in the Premier League during an impressive loan spell at Crystal Palace in 2021-22. At that time, he attracted interest from Everton and Newcastle United among other top-flight clubs.