New Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has identified his ideal successor to Conor Gallagher who TEAMtalk can confirm will be the subject of a bidding war between Tottenham and Aston Villa.
Maresca succeeded Mauricio Pochettino as Blues boss earlier this week and has inherited an immediate headache.
Among Chelsea’s best players in a difficult campaign last term was undoubtedly Conor Gallagher. The homegrown midfielder was a near-automatic selection for Pochettino and is expected to make the cut for England’s Euro 2024 squad on the back of his energetic displays at club level.
However, the 24-year-old has just one year remaining on his current contract and as yet, talks over extending his stay haven’t borne fruit.
Chelsea are reluctant to sell the midfield dynamo, though the proceeds from a sale would represent pure profit on the balance sheet given he’s homegrown.
Aston Villa have entered discussions with both Chelsea and Gallagher. Unai Emery is a huge admirer of Gallagher and views the all-action star as a perfect fit for his style at Villa Park.
However, TEAMtalk can confirm Tottenham are also in the running for Gallagher’s signature having initially explored his signing in the January window.
We can reveal Spurs remain a firm fixture in the race and are hopeful they’ll be the ones to wrap up a deal. That’s despite the bulk of the noise surrounding Gallagher’s potential transfer of late relating to Aston Villa.
Tottenham have held talks with Gallagher’s representatives and are fully prepared to thunder in with a bid when the time is right.
Chelsea value Gallagher around the £50m mark. The Blues settled on that figure having sold Mason Mount to Manchester United for a similar fee (£50m plus £5m in add-ons) one year ago. Like Gallagher, Mount only had 12 months remaining on his deal at the time.
READ MORE: Chelsea contracts: Conor Gallagher and four more Blues entering the last year of their deals
Given Spurs and Villa are both intent on winning the race, Chelsea stand a decent chance of recouping their target £50m fee.
In the event Gallagher does leave Stamford Bridge, the Sun have divulged who Maresca will turn to as his replacement.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to replace Conor Gallagher
They state Leicester City ace Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall is the man Maresca will aim to sign in a deal that could cost as much as £40m.
Dewsbury-Hall, 25, was a key cog in Maresca’s side that topped the Championship last season. The midfielder was named both Leicester Players’ Player of the Season as well as Leicester Supporters’ Player of the Season.
Dewsbury-Hall bagged 12 goals and 14 assists in the Championship alone and Maresca is of the belief he can make a similar type of impact upon returning to the top flight.
Leicester are under no financial pressure to cash in on their biggest stars this summer. As such, it’s expected they’ll hold out for their full £40m valuation if and when Chelsea come knocking.
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