Chelsea 'want £45m for Tottenham Hotspur-linked Conor Gallagher'

The 23-year-old is currently the centre of transfer speculation regarding a switch to Tottenham Hotspur.

The Daily Mail claims that Spurs have had a £40m bid turned down by Chelsea for the England international, with it falling £5m below Chelsea's valuation.

It has been confirmed that Spurs will need to see some outgoings in midfield areas before any deal could happen.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is under consideration from both Fulham and Atletico Madrid, while Tanguy Ndombele also looks set to leave, with clubs in Italy showing interest.

Despite that, Spurs' current priority is to get a deal done for Brennan Johnson from Nottingham Forest, with the player said to be on his way to London today.

With the deal for Johnson said to be in the region of £45m, more funds will need to be brought in if a deal for Gallagher is to go ahead, which may rule Atletico out of the running for Hojbjerg, as their interest is only for a loan deal.

In addition to this, deals between Chelsea and Spurs are few and far between, given the rivalry of the clubs.

Not since Gus Poyet's move to White Hart Lane in 2001 has a deal involving finances been struck between the two sides, so the path is not a well-trodden one.

Gallagher reportedly wishes to stay at Chelsea as long as he is guaranteed first-team minutes, but the recent acquisitions at Stamford Bridge means that competition is fierce in Mauricio Pochettino's midfield.

Cole Palmer completed his move to the club earlier on deadline day, to join Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia, who both arrived earlier this month.

Despite the headline-making arrivals, Gallagher has started all three Premier League games for Chelsea so far this season, as well as captaining the club in their EFL Cup win over AFC Wimbledon on Wednesday.

Once Lavia returns from injury, though, Gallagher looks the most susceptible to lose his place, with Enzo Fernandez also expected to be a regular.

With Euro 2024 just around the corner, Gallagher remains in Gareth Southgate's England squad, but infrequent playing time could become more costly down the line.