Mauricio Pochettino has claimed that he doesn’t want to sell Chelsea’s Conor Gallagher this summer.
This comes at a time when the 23-year-old midfielder is linked with a potential exit from Stamford Bridge.
The Times claimed earlier this week that Chelsea will be prepared to sell Conor Gallagher in this summer transfer window if a buyer meets their £45million price tag. They added that the Blues have rejected a £42million bid from West Ham for the box-to-box midfielder.
However, we’ve now heard Conor Gallagher receive a big vote of confidence from his head coach.
Speaking in last night’s press conference, Mauricio Pochettino shared that he’s planning to use Gallagher in the upcoming 2023/24 season.
“Both parts have to say and have to agree. At the moment, nothing to say. Conor is in our plans, I was talking with him the first day I arrive. In football, things can happen we cannot manage. At the moment, I am happy with him and his performance, he has two years on his contract. Nothing to say,” Pochettino said, as quoted by Football.London.
There’s been a lot of contrasting reports in the media regarding Gallagher’s future at Chelsea, which is why it’s great to hear something clear directly from the manager himself.
It certainly sounds like the Blues academy graduate will be playing his football at the Bridge in the new season.
The central midfielder has featured in both of the opening two games of pre-season, scoring twice for Pochettino’s new-look side already against Brighton and Wrexham.
We’ve seen in the past he can provide an option as a genuine goalscoring midfielder, so perhaps Pochettino is the Blues boss to unlock that in him again.
We’ll be following closely the speculation around Gallagher’s future, but it sounds like he’ll get another crack to impress in the first team.
With the real shortage of senior midfielders at the club, we’re not overly surprised to hear he’s set to stay.