Aston Villa may have just walked straight into a massive mistake as they appear to have missed out on one of their reported summer transfer targets…
What’s the word?
According to the Daily Mail, Chelsea youngster Conor Gallagher is set to join Midlands rivals West Brom on a season-long loan after signing a contract extension at Stamford Bridge.
Earlier this month, Villa were linked with interest in the 20-year-old midfielder but it seems as if Slaven Bilic has won the race this week.
Gallagher was also a target for fellow Premier League teams Crystal Palace and Leeds United.
New Barry?
It would have been interesting to see Dean Smith add another central midfielder to his ranks this window as he’s got a plethora of talent with the likes of Jack Grealish, John McGinn and Douglas Luiz.
But in Gallagher, they would have been getting their next Gareth Barry – a player who was the heartbeat of Villa’s midfield for the best part of 12 years thanks to his excellent intelligence.
The Blues starlet has been likened to both his current boss Frank Lampard as well as Lee Bowyer, who aren’t too dissimilar to Barry. Sky Sports pundit Keith Andrews describes Gallagher as “a classic No 8.” who “has unbelievable energy” and “does the ugly side of the game.”
In two loan spells in the Championship last season, the midfielder provided six goals and 11 assists whilst averaging 1.8 tackles, 1.7 shots, 1.2 key passes and 1.2 dribbles per game, via WhoScored.
This merely emphasises his box-to-box abilities and why, at his young age, he could have become the new Barry at Villa Park. He’s clearly a threat at either end of the pitch.
You can’t help but feel that Johan Lange has made a huge blunder by not pushing to sign Gallagher this summer.
AND in other news, Johan Lange could be making one huge mistake if they sign £14m “monster”…
The post Aston Villa may have missed out on their next Gareth Barry in Conor Gallagher first appeared on FootballFanCast.com.
