Chelsea make MAJOR transfer ultimatum to £50m star: report
The summer transfer window looks set to be a pivotal one for the Blues
Chelsea will tell Conor Gallagher to extend his contract or leave the club this summer, according to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano.
The England midfielder, 24, was heavily linked with a move to the Blues' London rivals Tottenham during the January transfer window.
Gallagher is out of contract at the end of next season, and Chelsea will not want to lose him for free in any circumstances.
As an academy product, Gallagher would represent pure profit for the Blues in the event that he was sold – and that's something that cannot be sniffed at by the two-time European champions as they try to operate within Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules.
Chelsea are said to value the former Crystal Palace loanee at £50m – and this summer could be crunch time. Romano told CaughtOffside:
"Conor Gallagher is another at Chelsea continuing to attract headlines, but it's [his contract situation] another that's not resolved yet. Despite reports from some sources that Chelsea have now decided to sell the midfielder, there's nothing confirmed yet. We will see in the next months.
"At the moment, Gallagher's contract situation remains the same; of course, if he arrives to June/July out of contract in 2025, it will be again an 'extend or sell' situation for Gallagher. But nothing is concrete at this stage; in January, we had 100 rumours per day, but nothing happened – not even negotiations."
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Following loan spells at Charlton, Swansea, West Brom and Palace, Gallagher made his senior Chelsea debut on the opening weekend of the 2022/23 Premier League season.
He has gone on feature 76 times for the Blues, playing a key part under Mauricio Pochettino this term and regularly wearing the captain's armband.
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Tom Hancock started freelancing for FourFourTwo in April 2019 and has also written for the Premier League and Opta Analyst, among others. He supports Wycombe Wanderers and has a soft spot for Wealdstone. A self-confessed statto, he has been known to watch football with a spreadsheet (or several) open...