Tottenham now seriously considering hijacking Aston Villa transfer involving 'fast' midfielder

Tottenham are now being linked with a fresh move for a long-term target as they desperately try to turn their season around. It has been another Premier League campaign to forget for Spurs, who are once again stuck in the bottom half, albeit not completely out of contention for the European places.

Thomas Frank started the season well, but he is now in real trouble, scrapping and clawing for his job. The Dane saw his men eliminated from the FA Cup over the weekend to leave any silverware hopes hanging on the Champions League, which seems like an unrealistic avenue.

Injuries are not helping. James Maddison’s long-term absence has been felt, while Dejan Kulusevski is yet to return after a lengthy lay-off, and he won’t be ready for weeks. To add to those issues, Brennan Johnson was sold, and since then, Mohammed Kudus has been ruled out until April, Richarlison has a fresh hamstring issue, the extent of which is unknown, and there are reports that Rodrigo Bentancur has a significant hamstring injury.

Spurs need help and fast, but January is not an easy - nor cheap - month to business, and Frank is having to work with what he has for the time being. Still, the efforts behind the scenes go on, and Frank has confirmed as much.

He said after the Villa defeat: “In terms of transfer market, as I said many times, we are out there working very hard, trying to improve the squad."

Gallagher re-emerges as option

Conor Gallagher has been a long-term target of Tottenham, dating back to his Chelsea days and before he made a big-money move to Atletico Madrid. Gallagher has been a regular in terms of appearances for Atletico this season, making 19 LaLiga appearances, but he has only started four of those.

Atleti spent big to bring in Spain international Alex Baena from Villarreal during the summer, and Baena is a preferred option when it comes to the creative midfielder role. That could see Gallagher leave, but Diego Simeone still values the England international as a key member of his squad.

According to Football London, Simeone will only sanction a sale if it is a permanent deal this month, with no loan scenarios being considered. Tottenham are said to be ramping up their interest, and they would be rivalling Aston Villa, who are said to have submitted a proposal last week.

Given his lack of starts, Gallagher may be keen on a return to the Premier League, and especially given the World Cup is just around the corner. But the player’s stance is not clear currently.

The former Chelsea star us under contract until 2029 and he cost Atleti just shy of £40million. A fee close to that is likely to be required to do a deal this month.

Simeone on Gallagher

Speaking about Gallagher back in April, Atletco boss Simeone said: “He's a person, first and foremost, that's why sometimes he's better and other times not so much.

"He knows he needs to improve and we've talked about it several times. When you give a lot of good things, then you're asked for more. He gives us a lot of options offensively, he has the speed to finish things off and he's also fast enough for everything defensively. We have to support him so he can continue giving us everything he's already given us."

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