Aston Villa had laid serious groundwork to sign Conor Gallagher from Atletico Madrid until Spurs swooped in.
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Tottenham Hotspur had been expected to conduct a busy January of transfer business to help Thomas Frank find stability in his North London tenure, but it proved to be a relatively quiet window for the club.
Santos left-back Souza was brought in but looks to be an investment for the future with the only marquee signing being that of Conor Gallagher. The former Chelsea man arrived from Atletico Madrid on a £35 million move and has already played three times for the side.
When Gallagher arrived at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, it had been reported that the club beat Premier League rivals Aston Villa to the deal. However, now that the window is closed, it’s emerged just how strong the interest was from Villa Park.
Tottenham Hotspur landed Aston Villa huge January transfer blow
It appears that Spurs dealt a big transfer blow to Unai Emery. The London outfit had been on the receiving end of a painful hijack themselves last summer when Arsenal swooped in to nab Eberechi Eze from Crystal Palace, but clearly have the mettle to do the same.
The Athletic report that Aston Villa seriously chased signing Gallagher after learning the player was available. That came after Unai Emery pushed the club to sign the player in 2024, when Gallagher chose to move to Spain instead.
Aston Villa have a strong relationship with Atletico Madrid and it’s claimed that the groundwork for a January switch had been laid in the weeks prior to the window opening. Gallagher himself is even said to have held talks with the Midlands outfit.
It was only when Spurs came storming in that Aston Villa are thought to have feared not being able to complete the transfer. It’s added that Gallagher started delaying decisions at the point to listen to new offers.
Unai Emery namechecks Conor Gallagher in transfer statement
It’s thought that the ultimate blow was delivered by Spurs being able to offer Gallagher a substantially higher pay package than the Villains. Sources close to the player maintain that no agreement had ever been reached with Aston Villa with the club thought to have been keen to avoid a salary bidding war with Tottenham Hotspur.
At the time, Emery spoke out about Villa’s financial power compared to rivals and outlined what he thought still made the club an attractive opportunity. He said: "We have our own way, and we are confident. We have very good players.
“We are a huge club, we have fantastic supporters. Villa Park is special, it’s a fortress. But we don’t have the potential to sign, for example, Manchester City signing Semenyo. Like Tottenham signing Gallagher. Okay.
“But we have our own power and we will exploit our capacity. We are positive and we have enough positive energy to get to the challenges that we have - without the power another team can have.”
In other news, Arsenal and Tottenham among likely free agent shoppers as four-time champion and veteran midfielder linked.