This week, Tottenham secured the services of English midfielder Conor Gallagher from Spanish side Atlético Madrid for £35m.
Fighting off competition from Aston Villa, the signing means that Spurs add to their depleted squad in the January transfer window, after injuries to Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison, Rodrigo Bentancur and Lucas Bergvall in the midfield department.
After beginning the campaign by sacking Europa League winning manager, Ange Postecoglou, Spurs enjoyed a relatively strong start to the season under new coach Thomas Frank. However, a remarkably ‘spursy’ fall from grace has seen the North London side win just one of their last six matches, plummeting to 14th in the Premier League with 27 points from 21 games.
Injuries aside, Spurs have been painful to watch this season: last year’s thrilling—albeit reckless—Ange-ball mentality has been replaced by a dogmatic style which seems to lack the creativity and attacking DNA associated with Tottenham teams of years gone by. As much as Postecoglou failed to provide defensive solidity, the Europa League triumph left perennially dissatisfied Spurs fans divided as to whether he should continue. Frank’s poor start has given them reason to believe he should have and they are crying out for more flair, more excitement and, most importantly, more points.
Frank hopes that the addition of Gallagher will do exactly that. Speaking to the BBC, the Spurs manager labelled him a “top midfielder, who we have worked tirelessly to add to our squad. Conor has captained teams so will bring leadership, maturity, character and personality to our dressing room, while his running power, pressing ability and eye for goal will strengthen us in a key area of the pitch.”
It has also been revealed this week that Postecoglou had been a huge admirer of Gallagher’s but former chairman Daniel Levy made an executive decision to veto the move in the summer of 2024.
For Gallagher himself, the move brings the possibility of improving his chances of making the flight to the World Cup this summer. Although a crucial part of the Southgate squad that reached the 2024 Euros final, he has only featured once under Thomas Tuchel during the 3-1 friendly defeat to Senegal.
The midfielder started his career at Chelsea in 2006 before rising through the ranks to make 136 Premier league appearances in his career to date, including loan spells at West Bromwich Albion and Crystal Palace.
At Atléti, Gallagher was first admired as a hard-working pressing machine in midfield and perfectly suited to Diego Simeone’s system. His highlights for the club included a record-breaking goal 27 seconds into the Madrid derby in the Champions League. However, he managed just 7 goals in all 77 competition appearances for the Spanish side and was frequently played out of position by Simeone.
Tottenham’s links to Gallagher seem to have increased with every transfer window and they have finally got their man. Their new signing has scored more goals, registered more shots and completed more passes than any of their current midfielders this season. Spurs fans will hope that he can inspire a return to winning ways for their side, beginning with Saturday’s London derby against fellow strugglers West Ham.
“Tottenham Hotspur Stadium South Stand” by Bluejam is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.