Chelsea respond to West Ham’s £40million bid for star midfielder as exit looms

Chelsea have reportedly turned down a bid in the region of £40million from West Ham for the services of midfielder Conor Gallagher with Tottenham also said to be interested while the Blues are open to the idea of selling at the right price.

Gallagher has been at Chelsea for the last 17 years and stayed on despite Newcastle United pursuing him last season. Eddie Howe tempted him with the idea to build his team around him but former Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel turned down all offers and kept him at the club until he left.

This season Chelsea have already almost 10 players including Mateo Kovacic, N’Golo Kante and goalkeeper Edouard Mendy. LondonWorld reported on Monday that both West Ham and Tottenham had made their move for the midfielder.

Gallagher played and scored in Chelsea’s opening pre-season game against Wrexham before being the only outfield player to have enjoyed 90 minutes in a cracking game against Brighton and Hove Albion.

Chelsea have made Brighton and Hove Albion midfielder Moises Caicedo their prime transfer target this summer but with Andrey Santos, signed from Santos in January set to go out on loan at sister club Strasbourg, it will be interesting to see if Chelsea do decide to cash in on one of their experienced midfielders.

Mauricio Pochettino is said to be a big fan of the box-to-box midfielder but the decision on if he stays or goes might be taken out of his hands with Chelsea keeping tabs on players like Mohammed Kudus and Crystal Palace’s Michael Olise.