Kieran Maguire drops ‘£133m’ Chelsea transfer claim after Conor Gallagher twist
Chelsea may look to sell academy graduate Conor Gallagher as it would provide the club pure profit for their FFP accounts.
That is the opinion of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who exclusively told Football Insider that Gallagher’s sale in January would fit the pattern of their transfer business.
As reported by the Daily Mail, Chelsea could consider the shock sale of Gallagher in January to comply with spending rules.
The Blues have spent heavily in recent windows, leaving them with a much smaller budget for the upcoming window.
However, selling the 23-year-old midfielder would provide the club with more Financial Fair Play flexibility as he is an academy graduate.
Gallagher is one of multiple players who could head for the exit at Stamford Bridge next month in order to raise funds.
However, Football Insider revealed on Tuesday (19 December) that West Ham are not expected to return for Gallagher’s signature in January despite trying to sign him in the summer.
Maguire suggested that Chelsea are the best team in Europe when it comes to player sales, and offloading Gallagher would fit their current trading model.
“The potential sale of Conor Gallagher is very much in the mold of Chelsea’s player trading model,” Maguire told Football Insider’s Sean Fisher.
“Chelsea have made £800million over the past decade from player sales in comparison to £133million at Man United.
“What Chelsea have been better at than every other club in European football is identifying young players, giving them a bit of first-team experience and then moving them on.
“If you look at the likes of Mason Mount, Marc Guehi, Tammy Abraham, [Callum] Hudson-Odoi and so on, there is a clear pattern.
“The benefit of that is that academy player sales represent pure profit which allows Chelsea to then go into the market and spend a lot of money.
“So all of the focus at Chelsea seems to be who is coming in rather than balancing their transfer model.“
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