Frank Leboeuf wants Ruben Loftus-Cheek or Tottenham Hotspur transfer target Conor Gallagher to stay at Chelsea, even if they sign Moises Caicedo from Brighton and Hove Albion.
Whilst Chelsea want to bring in fresh faces for their new manager Mauricio Pochettino, they need to offload a number of stars first, with a lot of talk around Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Conor Gallagher’s futures.
If they do that, then it increases their chances of signing Moises Caicedo from Brighton and Hove Albion, but even if he comes in, Leboeuf made it clear that one of Loftus-Cheek and Gallagher has to ‘stay’ because, after Enzo Fernandez and the new potential signing, he doesn’t think there is much depth, as he told ESPN.
It also needs to be noted that N’Golo Kante is edging ever close to leaving, whilst Mateo Kovacic is more than likely going to be donning the colours of Treble-winning, Manchester City.
If that happens, then who should stay out of Loftus-Cheek and Gallagher? It could be argued that the latter would fetch the bigger transfer fee in the market because he is still an England international, with the likes of Tottenham keen on his services.
Nonetheless, this is what Leboeuf had to say about it all, as there are set to be big changes at Chelsea this summer.
“If we consider that maybe Caicedo is about to move in, then I think they need to find somebody else next to Enzo Fernandez,” said Leboeuf.
“Seeing Chukwuemeka, Gallagher and maybe Loftus-Cheek leaving. I think it doesn’t give you too many options to fulfil that spot and to make sure you are going to be competitive and that’s, for me, a concern.
“Either Gallagher or Loftus-Cheek should stay to maybe substitute if Caicedo comes, either Caicedo or Enzo Fernandez. You can’t leave only two players in that situation.
“Look at Kovacic. He’s going to sign for Manchester City. Rodri and John Stones are the guys playing normally there, so he is going, for me, as a substitute. Chelsea have to make sure, in the middle of the park, you are strong. We all know the battle is there.”
Gallagher should stay at Chelsea
From his old loan club in Crystal Palace, to Europa League-bound Brighton, Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham and Unai Emery’s thriving Aston Villa.
A number of Premier League teams are keen on the 23-year-old, but he should stay put and try to make a name for himself under Chelsea and Pochettino.
Last season should be a write-off, it helped no-one, but a player of Gallagher’s make-up suits what Pochettino demands of his midfielders and he will cook under the former Spurs boss, so he should stay put at Stamford Bridge, unless a stupid amount of money gets put on the table for the player.
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