Bid imminent: Spurs could land the ideal Maddison upgrade in £40m “Poch-era Dele Alli”
We’re just a week away from the transfer window officially opening, but clubs have been hard at work behind the scenes to bolster their squads ahead of next season, and Tottenham Hotspur are no different.
Ange Postecoglou has had a full Premier League season to assess the areas of his team that he thinks need strengthening, and based on recent reports, midfield is one of the priorities.
The latest player touted for a move to N17 has drawn comparisons to former fan favourite Dele Alli and could even threaten James Maddison’s place in the team.
Tottenham Hotspur transfer rumours
According to a recent report from TEAMtalk, Tottenham are still incredibly interested in signing Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher in the coming weeks and are currently preparing an offer.
The report has revealed that while the player wishes to stay at Stamford Bridge, the West Londoners are resolute in their decision to sell the boyhood Blues fan.
Alongside the Lilywhites, Aston Villa and Atlético Madrid are said to be interested in the Englishman, and while the Blues hope to raise £50m from the sale, the interested parties believe £40m should be enough to get it done.
It could be a complicated transfer to get over the line, but adding an all-action midfielder like Gallagher to a Postecoglou system is an enticing prospect made all the more so by his comparisons to Dele – even if it puts Maddison’s place in the team at risk.
How Gallagher compares to Dele and Maddison
Now, before we compare Gallagher to Spurs’ current attacking midfielder, where do these comparisons to Dele come from?
Well, they stem from The Athletics’ Spurs correspondent Jack Pitt-Brooke, who described Gallagher as a “Poch-era Dele Alli”, primarily due to how “great at pressing and winning the ball back” he is.
He also claimed his “clever and dangerous” play in the final third was reminiscent of the former Lilywhites ace, and considering he scored 67 goals and provided 58 assists in 269 games for the club, that’s high praise indeed.
With that said, if Postecoglou does get his hands on the Epsom-born midfielder this summer, the fact he started 21 games in attacking midfield this year could put him in direct competition with Maddison for a starting role in N17 next season, so how do the two players stack up against one another?
Well, from a pure output perspective, the Blues ace returned seven goals and nine assists in 50 games for the West Londoners, meaning he averaged a goal involvement every 3.1 games.
| Gallagher vs Maddison | ||
|---|---|---|
| Player | Gallagher | Maddison |
| Appearances | 50 | 30 |
| Goals | 7 | 4 |
| Assists | 9 | 9 |
| Goal Involvements per Match | 0.32 | 0.43 |
| All Stats via Transfermarkt | ||
In contrast, the former Foxes ace only managed four goals and nine assists, but he did it in 30 games, meaning he had a better average of a goal involvement every 2.3 games, making it hard to pick a standout winner for their output.
However, there is one area in which it is incredibly clear-cut: injuries.
The Pensioners ace has never missed a game of senior football through injury in his career, whereas the man he could replace next season has missed 56 games, or 46 since the start of the 2020/21 campaign.
Moreover, he has suffered from five knee injuries, three hip injuries and two ankle injuries, which suggests these problems are not going to go away as he edges closer.
Ultimately, both Maddison and Gallagher are incredibly talented footballers, but the former’s injury record is a serious concern, so if Levy and Co can bring the Chelsea man to N17 this summer, they should – the comparisons to Dele are just a nice bonus.