Dan Cook has been speaking on the HLTCO podcast about what is the most realistic outcome for Crystal Palace in any attempt to sign Conor Gallagher on a permanent deal.
Crystal Palace managed to beat off competition from Premier League rivals to the signing of Gallagher over the summer, and it appears to have been one of the signings of the season when you look at how much he’s played and his return in front of goal.
Could Crystal Palace be relegated?
Yes!
No!
With every passing game that he puts in a performance as he did against Everton, his value is likely to increase, and teams bigger than Palace may become more likely to be interested in the midfielder – and that’s why Cook believes a long-term plan to buy Gallagher is a lot more realistic compared to one for the summer.
Cook believes that Palace may have to wait until 2023 to sign Gallagher permanently.
“It’s not like the summer’s going to roll around, his stock’s going to be as high as it possibly could be and we’re going to be able to get him for a price that we see as affordable.
“It’s far more likely that we end up structuring a deal, say in January of next season after the World Cup has been and gone, where he possibly hasn’t had as many minutes at Stamford Bridge as he would have liked to have done, he is frustrated and that he wants to come back to Crystal Palace and play football.
“I feel as though if he goes back to Chelsea and isn’t given a fair deal of opportunity, his first port of call will be Crystal Palace.
“He’s enjoying such a fantastic spell with us, the fans are singing his name, he’s clearly loving every second of it, that he will want to sort of keep that going if indeed he’s going to be a Chelsea player.”
TIF Thoughts on Gallagher…
Surely, if Gallagher keeps up this kind of form then there’s very little chance that Palace can tempt him away from Chelsea come next summer, especially if Thomas Tuchel sees him as an answer to his current midfield crisis.
Considering Chelsea is his boyhood club it would be understandable if Gallagher intends to head back in the summer to force his way into the midfield, just like Mason Mount did a few seasons ago following a successful loan spell away.
Having the opportunity to play in the Champions League for your boyhood club will likely be too good to turn down, but if he doesn’t get the desired game time, you could also see how a return to Selhurst Park may be on the cards in the future.
In other news: ‘It was quite clear’ – Dan Cook raves over unsung ace who was ‘huge’ in CPFC victory