Tottenham Hotspur came out of nowhere and signed a player they had been linked to for at least a year, swooping in at the last second to steal former Atletico Madrid center midfielder Conor Gallagher from under Aston Villa's noses by paying a whopping 40 million euros for the former Chelsea and Crystal Palace standout.
Gallagher joins Tottenham as a new box to box midfielder to replace the entirely discarded Yves Bissouma, whom Spurs supporters are still holding out the unlikely hope that they will be able to find a suitor for this winter before his contract officially expires.
Meanwhile, many assumed that Gallagher was replacing Rodrigo Bentancur, as the signing of the Englishman came just days after Spurs fans learned that Benta would be out for a minimum of three months with a torn hamstring from the 3-2 loss to AFC Bournemouth.
Rodrigo Bentancur and Conor Gallagher are near opposites
However, Bentancur and Gallagher not compatible players in the slightest. Not that Bentancur is a true deep lying playmaker, but, quite obviously, Gallagher and Benta have very differing profiles in the middle of the park.
Tottenham fans have been wanting that deep lying playmaker for a long time, knowing that Bentancur is not cutting it. Those who assumed Spurs were signing Gallagher instead of that sort of a No. 6 were thus disappointed, but it looks like they may be able to turn those frowns around.
Because according to a fresh report from Tom Allnutt of the Sunday Times, Tottenham Hotspur are indeed interested in signing a more creative midfielder who can make top class passes from deep. They are still interested in signing that profile of player after the addition of Conor Gallagher. However, it is unclear if Spurs will have the opportunity to sign the caliber of player they want in that role this January transfer window or if they will simply have to wait until the summer window for one.
These sorts of No. 6's are in massive demand in world football. Chelsea paved the road for Enzo Fernandez for this reason, selling Gallagher in part for that purpose. Arsenal prioritized signing a couple of them to build their team around. And Manchester United are now just as desperate as Tottenham to get their hands on a player like Adam Wharton, so both Spurs and the Red Devils will likely have to resign themselves to pursuing that quality of a 6 in the summer window.
The good news is that Tottenham are not thinking of Gallagher as a Bentancur replacement, and they are not going to rest on their laurels thinking that Rodrigo Bentancur is good enough of a deep lying playmaker to stick with. Archie Gray can't do it all on his lone some - at least, not yet.