Chelsea plan to sell Gallagher to fund French pair

Stuart Telford

• 10 Mar 2024 09:28 GMT
• 3 min read

Chelsea plan to keep spending their way out of trouble under Todd Boehly, with the club pressing ahead with Conor Gallagher's sale to fund some transfer market activity, despite Mauricio Pochettino's objections.

Gallagher has been one of the few success stories under Pochettino at Chelsea this season, the academy graduate appointed to the captain's council whilst flourishing in midfield with 10 direct goal-involvements in all competitions.

The 11-time England international has a highest ETV of €44 million per FootballTransfers' in-house algorithm, and Chelsea have a number of potential suitors including Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle.

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It may seem absurd to offload him, but as an academy graduate, Gallagher's sale would count as pure profit according to Financial Fair Play, and the Blues already know how they might replace him.

Chelsea 'pushing ahead' with Gallagher sale

"Chelsea are pushing ahead with their plans to sell Conor Gallagher in the summer transfer window," report Graeme Bailey for HiTC. "The former Premier League and Champions League winners are already looking at potential midfield enforcements…

"Outstanding French pair Manu Kone and Khephren Thuram are two players who Chelsea have been keeping tabs on. Thuram, 22, is starring for Nice in Ligue 1, while 22-year-old Kone is a star at Borussia Monchengladbach."

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Thuram and Kone are valued at €19.3m and €11.6m respectively per FootballTransfers, so Chelsea would be able to fund deals for them with Gallagher's sale provided they don’t get into a bidding war.

The French pair would also be added to a midfield stable that already includes Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia, so something will have to give from a playing point of view.

As well as Gallagher, Chelsea are set to set to cash in on Lewis Hall, with Newcastle obligated to make his loan deal permanent for £28m despite the fact the left-back has started just a single Premier League game for them.