Conor Gallagher contract stance emerges at Chelsea after £40m West Ham United transfer bid rejected – Sky Sports
Chelsea are prepared to offer Conor Gallagher a new contract to remain at the club after rejecting a £40million bid from West Ham, according to Sky Sports.
The broadcaster reported on their website late on Tuesday night (1 August) that the Hammers were suffering a “transfer headache” as they struggle to complete any deals for midfield targets, including the Chelsea man and Southampton captain James Ward-Prowse.
Gallagher, 23, has two years remaining on his deal at Stamford Bridge and according to Sky Sports “it is believed that Chelsea would be open to extending it”, with West Ham already “reluctant” to go any higher in their pursuit of the England international.
The Irons’ attempts to replace captain Declan Rice have ground to a standstill amid disagreements on transfer policy between manager David Moyes and new technical director Tim Steidten, with Fulham’s Joao Palhinha and Manchester United’s Scott McTominay two more options who have been moved for but look out of reach, while a push for Youssouf Fofana has been mooted.
Ex-Chelsea loanee Denis Zakaria is another who they have gone close on but are facing competition for, while they also like Blues defender Trevoh Chalobah, but while Gallagher is apparently ready to leave and it appears a longer stay might yet be on the cards if West Ham aren’t going to meet the £50m-plus asking price [Fabrizio Romano, 25 July].
Mess
Chelsea and Gallagher can’t seem to 100% decide what they plan to do so the situation likely depends on outside factors, such as whether West Ham feel pressed to up their offer or a new option like Brighton’s Moises Caicedo arrives at Stamford Bridge.
So there is potentially scope for this one to reopen before the deadline but it doesn’t look like being cheap, and with various signings in theory needed in the next few weeks it might be too steep.
And if they do agree a contract extension, even just to protect their investment, Gallagher’s asking price will shoot up further.
Whether the Irons can get even one deal done is now in doubt after even the move for Manchester City’s Carlos Borges was hijacked by Ajax at the last minute [Romano, 1 August].
West Ham have managed to spectacularly squander the benefits of finishing a poor season with a first major trophy in decades and then securing nine figures to sell Rice to Arsenal.
With Gianluca Scamacca suddenly now looking likely to leave permanently after weeks of batting away loan approaches the required incoming business is only growing.
But the Hammers seem to want to spend less than everybody is asking for to sell and can’t actually settle on who the top priorities are.
Time is running out and they seriously need to get their act together if they are going to avoid starting the new campaign weaker than they finished the last.
In other West Ham news, an exit-linked star has branded claims he is unhappy at the club as “fake news”.