Tottenham Hotspur manager Thomas Frank is quietly building a team in his image, while keeping the talented pieces of the past and reintegrating in a way that will suit them best. Frank has coaxed some of the biggest attacking breakout performances in the Premier League over the past couple of seasons, including Manchester United-bound right winger Bryan Mbeumo and former Brentford striker Ivan Toney.
If Morgan Gibbs-White joins Mohammed Kudus this summer, Frank will have several intriguing pieces to work with in the Tottenham attack, but Spurs are still working on trying to give their new manager the right ingredients behind all of them in midfield. So far, Lucas Bergvall is the only truly exciting midfield player.
Frank also needs to add some workhorses, too, especially with Tottenham pushing hard to find buyers for Yves Bissouma, whose time as a Tottenham player has clearly run its course. The midfield is now Spurs most pressing need in the summer transfer window.
According to a report from TBR Football's Graeme Bailey and Jamie Brown, Tottenham are back in the race for former Chelsea midifelder Conor Gallagher, who currently plays his football at Atletico Madrid in La Liga. Gallagher was on Tottenham's transfer radar earlier in the transfer window, but those links cooled.
He wasn't good enough for Chelsea
Now, it appears they have been revived with Thomas Frank reportedly a fan of Gallagher's. The 25-year-old box-to-box midfielder is said to be open to a move away from the Spanish capital due to concerns over the importance of his role and overall playing time under Diego Simeone.
Chelsea pushed Gallagher out to make space for a pivot of Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez, which proved to be a winning move. Enzo Maresca came in as Chelsea manager and helped the two dominate Premier League midfields, with Chelsea returning to Champions League qualification immediately.
Meanwhile, Gallagher played for a title contender in Spain, but he started fewer than 20 games and clearly didn't look like a fit in La Liga. Chelsea fans had their concerns with Gallagher technically despite his decent performances for them and his standout displays as a No. 10 for Crystal Palace before that.
Gallagher is a proven Premier League commodity, but, as Chelsea found out, he's not a star. And if he wasn't good enough for them, then why would he be good enough for another London powerhouse club aiming to make the Champions League on an annual basis? Gallagher, though, does have grit and some creativity, so if Atleti are reasonable, maybe Frank wouldn't be foolish to pursue him. He is much better than Bissouma, after all, though hardly inspiring either.