Newcastle United are reportedly still interested in signing Chelsea and England midfielder Conor Gallagher in the summer transfer window, but will need to offload current players first.
Do Newcastle want to sign Conor Gallagher?
The 23-year-old's future is very much up in the air at the moment, following a frustrating season at Stamford Bridge that saw him struggle to become a key starter in a team that underperformed throughout the campaign.
Gallagher may have featured in 35 of the Blues' 38 Premier League games, suggesting he was an important squad player, but he also only started 18 of those matches, finding it hard to oust the likes of Enzo Fernandez, N'Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic and Mason Mount from the starting lineup.
The £50,000-a-week midfielder will no doubt be weighing up his future currently, working out whether he should stay at Chelsea and fight for his place under new manager Mauricio Pochettino, or find a fresh challenge at a team who can promise him more game time moving forward.
Newcastle have been linked with a move for Gallagher a number of times this summer, but they are far from alone in expressing an interest in his signature, with West Ham reportedly tabling a £40m bid on Monday evening.
What's the latest on Conor Gallagher to Newcastle?
According to The Guardian, there is still interest in Gallagher from Newcastle, but other outgoing business will need to be conducted before they can think about signing him in the current window:
"Newcastle have also targeted Gallagher, who could cost at least £40m, but would need to sell a midfielder first."
Gallagher could be a strong alternative to James Maddison at Newcastle this summer, having lost out to Tottenham in the battle to sign the former Leicester City ace. Granted, the Chelsea man isn't quite on his level, in terms of productivity and influence – Maddison scored 10 goals and registered nine assists in a Foxes team that got relegated last term – but he could add legs and technical quality in the middle of the park.
The Blues midfielder famously shone on loan at Crystal Palace back in 2021/22, scoring eight times and chipping in with a further three assists in the Premier League, and he averaged 1.3 tackles per game in the competition for Chelsea last season, showing that he is effective off the ball, too. He was dubbed a "monster" at Selhurst Park, whereas Graham Potter has also hailed him as "fantastic" in the recent past.
It does look as though West Ham have stolen a march on Newcastle, with the idea of staying put in London potentially appealing to Gallagher at this point in his career, but the Magpies have the promise of Champions League football in 2023/24, not to mention an increasingly bright future in a financial and potentially trophy-winning sense, so it still feels like there could be a possible twist in the saga.
If Gallagher doesn't end up joining Newcastle this summer, it will be interesting to see if the Magpies still target another new central midfielder instead, with more competition for places possibly needed in the middle of the park ahead of an extremely busy campaign that will see Eddie Howe's side battling in the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and EFL Cup.