
Crystal Palace
Premier League • England
Palace prepare for Newcastle transfer battle after Chelsea put £35m price tag on midfielder

Crystal Palace look set to rival Newcastle for Chelsea star Conor Gallagher after reportedly putting themselves at the front of the queue to sign him.
Gallagher made a big impression during a loan spell at Selhurst Park last season. He flew out of the blocks for them, registering six goals in his first 15 Premier League matches.
The central midfielder did slow down as the season went on and only added two more goals to his tally. However, it was still a top season for Gallagher and he earned plenty of admirers.
The player is now back at Chelsea and made his full Blues debut in their trip to Leeds on Sunday.
Unfortunately for Gallagher and Chelsea, it was a day to forget as they lost 3-0 at Elland Road. Brenden Aaronson, Rodrigo and Jack Harrison scored in a famous win for Leeds.
Gallagher hopes to become a regular in Thomas Tuchel’s starting eleven. He believes he can be an important player for them amid injuries to N’Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic.
Despite this dream, Chelsea may opt to sell the Englishman before the end of the transfer window.
According to the Daily Mail, Tuchel’s side will let Gallagher leave if a £35million bid comes in for him. And there are a few Premier League teams who could make such an offer.
Palace, Newcastle eyeing Conor Gallagher
Most notable among them are Palace and Newcastle. The Eagles, of course, would love to welcome him back to south London following the impressive loan spell.
But if would require Palace to break their transfer record. This is currently the £28m they spent on Christian Benteke in summer 2016.
The Daily Mail claim Palace are positioning themselves at the front of the queue for Gallagher. This suggests they could be about to submit a big proposal for him.
However, Newcastle are lurking and have the funds to trouble Palace’s transfer strategy. As per a recent report from The Telegraph, Gallagher is among four Chelsea players being looked at by Magpies officials.
Callum Hudson-Odoi, Armando Broja and Christian Pulisic are the other players under consideration at St James’ Park.
Newcastle can only capture one of the quartet on loan, and that is most likely to be Broja. As such, moves for the other three would have to be through permanent deals.
Newcastle have shown they are willing to back Eddie Howe this year by spending £40m on Bruno Guimaraes and £35m to sign Sven Botman. They could make a big push to land Gallagher if the manager puts this request in.
The report brings up a key factor which could influence Gallagher’s transfer decision. This is the Qatar World Cup, which gets up and running on November 20.
Gallagher has won four caps for England and will undoubtedly be eyeing a spot in Gareth Southgate’s squad for the tournament.
He must decide whether this is more likely to happen at Chelsea, or if he leaves for either Palace or Newcastle.
Meanwhile, Chelsea have reportedly come in with a fresh approach to sign Wesley Fofana from Leicester.