Aston Villa ‘will be keeping tabs’ on ‘special’ £42.5m star at Villa Park

Aston Villa ‘will be keeping tabs’ on Conor Gallagher’s situation at Chelsea this summer, according to journalist Pete O’Rourke.

The 22-year-old enjoyed an extremely productive 2021/22 campaign on loan at Premier League outfit Crystal Palace, yet where he plies his trade next term remains up in the air.

According to The Athletic, Gallagher, along with fellow academy graduates Armando Broja and Levi Colwill, will ‘be looked at’ by Thomas Tuchel during pre-season as they attempt to stake their claim for first-team roles.

The German tactician even admitted as much in a recent interview, stating that he will decide the futures of his young loan stars based on how they perform in the summer months.

“I want to have them in pre-season, and we will decide in pre-season what goes on,” admitted Tuchel. “It is heavily up to them and how they do.”

Palace chairman Steve Parish has openly admitted that he would like Gallagher to return to Selhurst Park next term, while talkSPORT claim Everton boss Frank Lampard is eager to use his Chelsea connections to bring him to Merseyside.

O’Rourke believes ‘a number’ of top-flight clubs will be monitoring the England international over the coming months and is ‘sure’ Villa will be one of them.

In an interview with GiveMeSport, he said: “I think Villa and a number of Premier League clubs will be potentially looking at Conor Gallagher this summer.

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“He was a massive success at Crystal Palace last year, he’s broken into the England squad, but if he’s not going to play for Chelsea, I’m sure most of the Premier League would probably sign Conor Gallagher if he became available.

“So, I’m sure Aston Villa will be no