Aston Villa are likely to be busy in the summer transfer window as Unai Emery looks to build his squad further ahead of a huge 2024/25 season.
The Villans finished in the Premier League top four last term to secure a spot in next season’s Champions League.
However, Villa will be mindful of what happened to Newcastle last term, as their squad was stretched to the limit and it hampered them in the league.
With that in mind, the Villans will be eager to improve their overall quality and strength in depth ahead of challenging on four fronts next season.
Now, reports have begun doing the rounds claiming that Villa have set their sights on a Premier League star who Gareth Southgate has spoken about highly.
The player in question is Chelsea‘s Conor Gallagher and, according to David Ornstein of The Athletic, the Villans have opened talks over the midfielder.
Ornstein wrote on X, linking to his article on The Athletic: “Aston Villa hold preliminary talks with Chelsea over move for Conor Gallagher.
“#AVFC also in contact with 24yo’s camp. Unai Emery huge admirer + emerging as a top target.”
At just 24 years of age, Gallagher has already captained Chelsea, is one of their key players, and is very much in the England picture.
Paul Merson recently described him as ‘one of their most consistent and best players’, and nobody can deny that he has been a cut above for the Blues.
It seems strange that Chelsea would consider selling Gallagher at all.
Even though cashing in on the academy graduate academy product would go down in their accounts as pure profit, he’s surely too important to sell.
Nevertheless, their loss could be Villa’s gain, so let’s see what happens in the coming weeks, perhaps even days, regarding the £50million man’s future.
What has Gareth Southgate said about Aston Villa target Conor Gallagher?
Ahead of England’s Euro 2024 qualifier with Malta in October, Southgate sung Gallagher’s praises, as per the Evening Standard.
“His journey is really interesting,” said Southgate.
“Because with some of our players who have come into the squad young, their talent has been obvious and you would probably have picked them up at 15, 16 or 17.
“But Conor is perhaps a slower burner in terms of how external people might have viewed him.
“He has got tremendous drive. This week is a classic for me. He has come with a bit of a knock from the weekend, but he walked through the door saying, ‘It is a bit sore, but I will be fine for Friday’.
“There was no way he was going home, there was no way he wasn’t going to give himself every chance.
“He wasn’t able to train for the first few days, but he was determined he would be available.
“And that, in a nutshell, is what is going to be one of his greatest strengths which will allow himself to achieve everything he might in the game. His mentality is outstanding.”