Aston Villa have opened negotiations with Chelsea over the signing of Conor Gallagher, with manager Unai Emery desperate to sign the England midfielder, who is expected to fetch at least £50 million, and is seeking to move quickly to sign one of his main summer targets.
Tottenham are also interested in Gallagher, who has one year left on his contract, and the 24-year-old could become even more in demand if he performs well for England at Euro 2024.
Chelsea would be open to any bid for Gallagher but he is in no rush to leave his boyhood club, with talks over a new contract making little progress and he would not want to risk losing him on a free transfer next year.
Chelsea can minimise the risk of falling foul of Premier League profitability and sustainability rules by making a big sale this summer and know that any money made from the sale of academy product Gallagher will be recorded as a net profit on their books.
It remains to be seen whether Villa, who need to strengthen their squad after qualifying for the Champions League, can afford to pay the hefty £50 million. Villa may need to make a sale or two to fund Gallagher, but including John Duran in the deal could also boost their chances of reaching an agreement with Chelsea, who have been monitoring the 20-year-old Colombian striker since January.
Emery likes Gallagher’s energy and is determined to persuade him to join the team, but selling him would be a gamble for Chelsea, who are fans’ favourites and could see another home-grown player, Trevoh Chalobah, a Manchester United target, follow him out.
New Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca may have to plan for life without both Gallagher and Chalobah, whose predecessor Mauricio Pochettino wanted to keep them.
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Chelsea are open to exploring other options and are ready to sign Fulham defender Tosin Adarabioyo on a free transfer. Their next big move would be to bring in a striker to rival Nicholas Jackson. Chelsea are still pursuing RB Leipzig forward Benjamin Cesco, who is also wanted by Arsenal.
