Manchester United look set to miss out on one of their transfer targets with Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur leading the chase
Sign up to The Red Devil round-up with Rich Fay
Sign up
Thank you for signing up!
Did you know with an ad-lite subscription to ManchesterWorld, you get 70% fewer ads while viewing the news that matters to you.
Submitting...
Manchester United are set to miss out on signing Atletico Madrid star Conor Gallagher, with reports that Tottenham Hotspur are closing in on a deal.
Aston Villa had reached a verbal agreement to sign Gallagher on loan with an option to buy late on Monday afternoon - according to Fabrizio Romano - but a shock twist saw Spurs move ahead as they made a £35m bid for the ex-Chelsea and Crystal Palace man, as reported by David Ornstein of The Athletic.
The player wants to move to North London and the expectation is the offer from Tottenham will be accepted by the La Liga club.
Reports in Spain last month claimed United were ‘preparing an initial offer’ of around £26m to sign Gallagher. The Red Devils have been in need of midfield reinforcements but it is unclear how much transfer plans have been impacted by Ruben Amorim’s sacking.
Speaking last month about Gallagher’s future, Romano said: “I think there is a chance for Conor Gallagher to leave Atletico Madrid already in the January transfer window or eventually in the summer.
“This will also depend on the formula of the deal. Manchester United were interested in Conor Gallagher as an opportunity in the final days of August but Atletico said no to a loan move and they don’t have that kind of intention.
“I think if maybe a permanent transfer proposal arrives, that would be different. Maybe something around 30 million euros (£26m), sources say that this could be the way to get Conor Gallagher in the January transfer window.”
Gallagher has been a regular in terms of appearances for Atletico this season, playing in 19 La Liga games, but he has only started four of those.
The former Chelsea man previously expressed frustration at his lack of minutes.
In November, he was quoted in an interview by Spanish outlet AS, where he said: “I'm not satisfied. I don't think anyone is if they're not playing as much as they'd like, but I'll keep working very hard to help the team whenever I have the chance, and hopefully, more opportunities to be a starter will come.
“I'm very happy here. My goal is to win titles with Atleti, and I want to have a bigger role in the team. And, as I've said, I'm going to keep working as hard as I can to play more minutes and help the team.”