Steven Gerrard should take full advantage as Chelsea plan transfer talks

If there was ever a candidate who epitomises what Steven Gerrard wants in a player it’s England newbie Conor Gallagher who, over the coming weeks, will sit down with Chelsea to discuss where his future lies. Disciplined, tenacious, talented and an obsessive team player with a real eye for a goal, Gallagher should be on Aston Villa’s radar as the summer transfer window officially opens on Friday (June 10).

understands a left-back, a new No.8 and a striker all remain on Gerrard’s wish-list to add to the additions of Robin Olsen, Diego Carlos, Boubacar Kamara and Philippe Coutinho. Gerrard, meanwhile, has expressed his desire to drastically improve the spine of Villa’s starting XI and he’s certainly going a good way about that.

Last week, though, Gallagher was linked with a move to Everton while Patrick Vieira would love to have him back on a permanent basis. Villa, for me, should be doing all they can to secure the 22-year-old’s services after such a standout campaign on loan at Selhurst Park last season. The ex-West Brom loanee was so often the driving force in victories over the likes of Man City, Spurs, Arsenal and Man United, with the big guns struggling to contain Gallagher’s all-in, high-octane style in the centre of midfield. He scored eight and assisted three from playing in a midfield three. Jacob Ramsey and John McGinn, Villa’s two most-progressive ‘number eights’ in Gerrard’s system, scored nine between them.

As we’ve all witnessed with the deals that have been rubber-stamped thus far, Gerrard’s pull cannot be downplayed and, should a call from the head coach to Gallagher be forthcoming, it’d certainly stop and make the young England midfielder think. His boss at Stamford Bridge, Thomas Tuchel, said of