West Ham United enquire over Conor Gallagher in loan move
West Ham United have enquired about the loan availability of Chelsea attacker Conor Gallagher, according to The Guardian.
The 22-year-old made his debut for the Blues away at Everton on Saturday (6 August) as a late substitute after enjoying a great campaign while on loan at Crystal Palace last season.
With the World Cup in Qatar fast approaching in November, Gallagher will want to be in Gareth Southgate’s squad having already made his debut for the Three Lions and West Ham were hoping to take advantage of that.
The Irons enquired whether they could take him on loan for the season but Chelsea denied their approach with Gallagher himself saying he does not intend to leave Stamford Bridge this summer.
Attacking midfield has become a priority for David Moyes in the last couple of weeks but they are looking to offload one of their own at the moment in Croatian international Nikola Vlasic.
Try again
Gallagher has been vocal before about wanting to play as often as he possibly can and only coming on with a few minutes to go at Goodison Park won’t have pleased him at all.
Pressure will be on Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel to give the England international the time on the pitch he wants to ensure he stays at the club and is happy to do so.
That could open the door for West Ham to squeeze even harder on their London rivals by making another, improved approach to see if they can force all parties to agree to a loan deal.
Moyes would probably prefer to make a permanent addition in that area having not yet found anyone who could produce the performances Jesse Lingard did in the 2020-21 campaign.
Gallagher could be that but the Hammers would be left with the same conundrum in 12 months’ time which will have to be considered before making any further moves.