Ciaran Kelly has been speaking on Chronicle Live about when Newcastle United may make moves for Conor Gallagher and Christian Pulisic.
The duo are said to betwo names high up on Newcastle’s transfer shortlist when it comes to loan arrivals, with Callum Hudson-Odoi and Armando Broja also said to be of interest to Eddie Howe.
Given the injury to Jonjo Shelvey and Newcastle’s lack of attacking output on the right-hand side, it’s no surprise that Pulisic and Gallagher are featuring high up on the Magpies’ shortlist – with the former even said to have been under discussion by Amanda Staveley last Sunday at Stamford Bridge, according to Ben Jacobs.
Kelly, though, believes that it won’t be until the final few days of the window when loan moves for Gallagher or Pulisic may materialise.
“Pulisic and Gallagher, they’re two players they really like, two loan players they’ve been looking at, and I think it’ll be the final days of the window that that starts to open up for Newcastle, really. Chelsea still have probably two if not three signings to make and that’ll have a big bearing on their squad.
Who would you rather Newcastle signed on loan?
Pulisic!
Gallagher!
“One thing to bear in mind, particularly clubs at that end of the table, they can really take advantage of having five subs now, so they’re going to carry bigger squads, and particularly young players who won’t officially take up a place in the squad, they won’t be against keeping them around because it’s another option from the bench.”
TIF Thoughts on interest in Pulisic and Gallagher…
When it comes to Pulisic, it appears that he would be the blockbuster name that Newcastle are looking for in terms of an attacking signing given he’s the captain of his national side, while he would be a significant upgrade on Miguel Almiron with the Paraguayan managing to register 14 goals in 125 Premier League appearances, whereas Pulisic has 25 strikes in 117 appearances.
Gallagher is more of an interesting one as Eddie Howe already has plenty of options in the middle of the pitch, so adding someone such as Gallagher, who would likely demand regular first-team football, could be a risky move as it may well anger some of the players already in the squad.
Also, if there would be no option to buy next summer, Newcastle would just be developing a Chelsea player for the future, while also potentially stagnating the growth of one of their own in the form of Elliot Anderson, so that’s a difficult balancing act for Howe to deal with before the close of the window.