Tottenham Hotspur’s latest transfer deal will put their medical department firmly to the test
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Tottenham Hotspur approached this January transfer window in the knowledge that Thomas Frank’s squad needed strengthening if the north London outfit are to have the best possible chance of achieving their aims this season.
What those aims now are in the Premier League is somewhat unclear, after a disappointing winter period which has left the Europa League winners down in the increasingly-familiar territory of the bottom seven of the league table.
In the Champions League, they have won three matches from six and are just a point and three places outside of the top eight, which automatically qualify for the knockout stages. Doing just that will no doubt be amongst the Lilywhites’ main targets for the remainder of the season.
On the transfer front, Spurs sold Brennan Johnson to Crystal Palace for £35m and fairly quickly spent the entirety of that transfer kitty on securing former Chelsea and Atletico Madrid midfielder Conor Gallagher for the same price. While the 25-year-old looks an astute buy on paper, he could yet provide Spurs with an unexpected test.
Why Gallagher signing will provide Spurs with a unique test
Ask any Tottenham fan what the greatest cause of their problems over the last three seasons has been, the majority will likely come up with one overriding answer: injuries. They have had a lot of them.
In 2024/25, as per stats relayed by GiveMeSport, Spurs had 41 injuries which caused a player to miss at least one game, with players missing a combined total of 1,553 days overall – second out of all Premier League sides to Brighton & Hove Albion in both metrics.
Star defender Micky van de Ven spent an extended period on the sidelines both last term and the season before, while playmaker James Maddison suffered an ankle injury the very same day Van de Ven injured his hamstring, in a chaotic 4-1 home defeat against Chelsea on 6 November 2023, and is now out for the season with an ACL tear. Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke have both spent practically the entirety of this campaign on the treatment table, with the latter only returning to action just last week. The club currently have six high-profile players out in all.
But how does this relate to the signing of Gallagher? Well, the England midfielder has not suffered a long-term injury in his career. In fact, according to stats by Transfermarkt, Gallagher has not missed a single match through injury in his entire seven-season career to date. He once spent five days ill in March 2024, but did not miss a single game for that reason or for any other injury. A quite remarkable statistic, which Spurs and their medical team will hope not to see come to an end on their watch.
£35m signing could provide Spurs’ medical team with their biggest challenge yet
It can be argued that Spurs’ signing of Gallagher provides the Lilywhites’ medical team with their greatest test yet. A genuine test of their competency to keep a famously injury-free player away from their packed treatment room.
That is not to say that it is the fault of the club if Gallagher were to pick up an unfortunate injury. Anything can happen on the pitch at any given time. However, if he were to become as injury prone as the likes of Solanke, for example, then serious questions may need to be asked behind the scenes.
Spurs are signing a player whose reliability is one of his core strengths. Both in terms of his all-action performances on the pitch, but also equally importantly in his ability to remain consistently fit for his side. If they are able to manage him correctly, this quality of Gallagher’s could prove extremely useful to his new club.