Tottenham Hotspur are in pole position to sign Conor Gallagher despite Aston Villa’s efforts to sign him
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Tottenham Hotspur are expected to beat Premier League rivals Aston Villa to the signing of England international Conor Gallagher from Atletico Madrid for a reported figure of around €40 million (£34.7m).
Sky Sports News claim that Gallagher is expected to fly to London later today to complete a medical with Tottenham. which will see him return to the English capital just 18 months after leaving Chelsea in the summer of ,024.
Gallagher, who has 136 matches of Premier League experience across spells with Chelsea, West Brom and Crystal Palace, had looked set to become Aston Villa’s latest signing of the winter window before a sudden twist in the saga.
Why Gallagher has chosen Tottenham ahead of Aston Villa
Fabrizio Romano claimed on X yesterday (12 January) that Aston Villa were on the verge of reaching a club to club agreement with Atletico Madrid over a loan deal, with a buy option for Gallagher that would eventually become mandatory over the summer. TalkSport journalist Alex Crook added at the time that Gallagher was open to the idea of moving to Villa Park to reignite his England career ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
However, three major factors influenced proceedings and allowed Tottenham to hijack the deal, and one of those is thought to be family ties. Gallagher was born in Epsom, Surrey, and is keen to be closer to his family in the area.
In addition, TEAMtalk reports that Tottenham are offering Gallagher greater assurances that he’d play regularly which is something that he’s been struggling with at Atletico under Diego Simeone in recent months. It’s thought that Rodrigo Bentancur’s recent injury, which is likely to keep him out for three months, played a significant role in convincing Thomas Frank to hijack Aston Villa’s move for Gallagher.
Tottenham are under-performing in the Premier League, they are out of both domestic cup competitions, and need a huge boost if they are to catapult themselves to success in the league and Europe.
Atletico were more inclined to sell Gallagher to Tottenham this month
Express Sport claims Tottenham’s desire to sign Gallagher on a permanent basis for an up-front fee gave them a key advantage over Aston Villa, who wanted to sign him on a loan with an option to buy. Gallagher is expected to sign a five-and-half-year deal at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with personal terms not anticipated to pose any problems.
Aston Villa’s failure to sign Gallagher could leave the club with problems moving forward as Emery grapples with a shortage of midfielders due to injuries to Boubacar Kamara, Amadou Onana and Ross Barkley. The West Midlands side are currently third in the table, through to the fourth round of the FA Cup and are expected to advance to the latter stages of the Europa League. Emery may look to strengthen his side’s central options with alternative targets before the window closes in February.