Joe Cole has urged Chelsea’s hierarchy to hold on to one player this summer as the former winger believes he is ‘the most important player’ at the club.
Mauricio Pochettino guided Chelsea to a sixth placed finish in the Premier League but it was not enough for the Argentine to hold onto his job as the Blues decided to part ways with the former Tottenham Hotspur boss.
Incoming Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca will have superb attacking midfielder Cole Palmer to rely upon but there is another member of the Blues squad who does not get the credit he deserves.
Conor Gallagher was a vital element of the Chelsea team with Pochettino starting the English midfielder week in and week out for the Blues.
Cole on Gallagher
Former Chelsea winger Joe Cole has urged the top brass at the West London club to hold onto Gallagher, who has consistently been linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge.
“If I was sitting in front of the owners, I would be telling them that Conor is arguably the most important player in that dressing room in terms of what he brings to the club, he understands the club,” Cole told talkSPORT.
“This is before you start talking about his performance on the pitch because I think the last five, six games, everyone played really well. Everyone was playing well, players came off the bench affecting games, but during the difficult times, that’s when you see what a player’s worth, when the things are not going well. Conor was always there available, driving his team on, being brave getting on the ball.
“I think he’s vital for the club to keep him. I don’t understand the financial side of it. I know there’s a benefit to selling players from the academy and I will admit, hands up, I don’t understand that side of it, but if you are from a purely footballing perspective, he is in the top three more important players in that dressing room.”
Gallagher’s Chelsea future
HITC reported earlier this year that Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham were one of the teams who were keen on the Englishman and the Blues seem open to losing the 24-year-old.
Gallagher is a Chelsea academy prospect and would therefore register as pure profit on the club’s books if they did decide to move him on, which Cole believes would be a mistake.
As part of the toughening up of the Financial Fair Play measures, Chelsea may well be forced to sell key players this summer and Gallagher could be one of those stars on the chopping block.
This may be Chelsea’s last chance to get a decent fee for the academy product with his contract at Stamford Bridge set to expire next summer.
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