Darren Bent has stated that he doesn’t want to compare rumoured Newcastle target Conor Gallagher with Premier League and Chelsea legend, Frank Lampard, as he told talkSPORT.
The former Tottenham striker warned that the same used to happen with Dele Alli, who is also another Newcastle target, but he has been struggling for several years now and has fallen off the footballing cliff.
Newcastle have big pockets heading into the January transfer window and the summer, as their fans will dream to land top-quality talents like Gallagher.
At this moment in time, it would have to take something ridiculous for Newcastle to sign the Chelsea academy product, but that hasn’t stopped the North East club from trying, as reported by the Daily Mail.
Gallagher netted a brace for Crystal Palace on Sunday when Patrick Vieira’s side eased past Everton.
And Bent thinks Gallagher is destined for Chelsea, rather than moving elsewhere when his loan deal expires.
“Whenever you get a midfielder scoring goals,” said Bent. “We did it with Dele Alli that he was going to be the next Frank Lampard.
“But when you look at Lampard’s numbers, 177 Premier League goals, that’s ridiculous. Absoutley ridiculous.
“I am not going to say he’s the next Frank Lampard. But I think if he goes back to Chelsea, then he can play.
“He is showing signs that he is a top player. He gets into the box. He’s one of them box-to-box players that he can get it off the backline and also link with the centre-forward. And score goals himself.”
If Newcastle stay up, and they are making life seriously difficult for themselves at this moment, then players like Gallagher would become more realistic.
Chelsea have proven, with the likes of Tammy Abraham and Fikayo Tomori, that they are willing to sell their star academy players.
Whilst Gallagher will feel he can break into the Chelsea set-up next season, if teams put a big wad of cash on the table for his talents, then it will be interesting to see how they react.
Until then, those in the St James’ Park boardroom need to be realistic in who they will purchase or bring in on loan because their current league position is going to make life very, very difficult.
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