Revealed: Chelsea's stance on selling Conor Gallagher as Tottenham retain interested in Blues midfielder

According to The Daily Mail, there has been "no significant progress" in the talks about extending the midfielder's contract at Chelsea. With an eye towards making a summer transfer for the England international, Tottenham and other competing Premier League teams are keeping a careful eye on the issue. Nonetheless, Gallagher is giving staying at Stamford Bridge top priority and is not considering leaving. The source claims that Chelsea are now hesitant to pay Gallagher more than their unofficial weekly salary cap of £150,000. Gallagher is about to enter the last 12 months of his contract.

Although Chelsea insists that this isn't a problem, it is thought that the club is under pressure to sell players this summer in order to comply with profit and sustainability guidelines (PSR). Given that Gallagher came via the Chelsea academy, his sale would be valued as pure profit on the PSR balance sheet. Gallagher has just one year left on his contract, but if Chelsea were to sell, they would demand at least £50 million for him. However, it is unclear if teams will be willing to pay that amount for a player who may be available for free next season.

The likelihood of Gallagher being sold this summer is especially strange because he is one of the favourites to be crowned Chelsea's player of the year this season. The 24-year-old, who enrolled in Chelsea's academy when he was just eight years old, has scored four goals in his previous five games for the west London team and took on the captain's armband this season in Reece James' absence.

The Englishman will likely be starting yet again for Mauricio Pochettino when the Blues take on Brentford on Saturday, March 2 as they look to get back into the top half of the Premier League.