Premier League

CHELSEA’S curious transfer policy faces yet another huge challenge when the window opens next month.Conor Gallagher is always the first name linked with the exit door at Stamford Bridge even though he is now more important than ever to guiding Chelsea through the latest rocky patch.
Gallagher could be soldCredit: Rex
Conor Gallagher was sent off during Cheslea’s 3-2 victory over BrightonCredit: PA
Injury to club captain Reece James this week leaves midfielder Gallagher as the only homegrown player in the first team with the experience to help the rookies through rough times.
A club source told SunSport: “He is perhaps the only fit player now who really understands what it means to be a Chelsea player.”
Gallagher, 23, has started every Premier League game he has been available for this season in a midfield that also includes British record signings Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez.
Accomplished stars like Raheem Sterling and Thiago Silva play a vital role but are relative newcomers to the club Gallagher has served since he was eight.
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Renowned as a formidable trainer, he has shrugged off constant speculation over his future to win over a succession of managers.
It happened this season after Tottenham, Everton and West Ham failed with bids of around £40 million in the summer to sign the occasional England international.
Head coach Mauricio Pochettino even promoted Gallagher to captain, which came as a shock to the lifelong Chelsea fan from Surrey.
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But now Pochettino is talking up transfers with the winter window opening on New Year’s Day and Chelsea languishing in 12th place.
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An experienced striker has been talked about for weeks but that will cost big money and Gallagher is the most valuable asset at the moment.
Costing nothing to sign as an academy graduate, any fee Chelsea receive will be pure profit in physical terms and for the benefit of financial fair play.
Fellow ex-academy kids Armando Broja, Trevoh Chalobah and Ian Maatsen would help the bank account but have played much less first team football than Gallagher.
Having splurged £1 billion on new players in the past 18 months with little to show for it so far, club owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali must balance the books and the squad for Pochettino.
Flogging Gallagher will bring in a few quid but will rob Chelsea of a key player who bleeds blue just when they need stability most.
Sunday’s crushing 2-0 defeat by Everton leaves them just ten points off the bottom three ahead of a treacherous home game with rejuvenated Sheffield United this Saturday.

Chelsea fans are crying out for a little of what they grew accustomed to with previous squads.
Winning aside, they are demanding players who will give everything for the club.
A source said: “Conor cannot be a captain like John Terry. He won’t do the things that Frank Lampard did and he is not Gianfranco Zola.
“But he is regarded as the best trainer at Chelsea by quite a few people because he has grown up there seeing the likes of JT and Frank be on it every single day.
“He didn’t ask to be made captain and was quite surprised when it came his way. But he accepted the challenge like he does with everything.”
Boehly and Behdad face the added dilemma of Gallagher’s contract which has 18 months left.
This time last year, midfielder Mason Mount was in the same position.
The Americans failed to tie down a player with Chelsea in his DNA who ended up leaving last summer in a £60 million deal with Manchester United.
That is ready cash in the bank but as each player who has been nurtured through the ranks at Stamford Bridge departs, something other than money changes hands.
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Gallagher is ready to sign a new deal and has said so in public. The player’s issue is would he be a first team regular if the cursed injury list at Chelsea ever clears?
Boehly and Eghbali must decide whether to take short term financial gain to pay for another incomer to join their vastly inexperienced squad or do they nail Gallagher to the Chelsea flag. More

ROY KEANE was in disbelief after discovering the age of his former Manchester United team-mate Jaap Stam.The Dutchman was reunited with former team-mates Gary Neville and Keane on the Stick to Football podcast.
Jaap Stem joined the panel for the ‘Stick to Football’ podcastCredit: YOUTUBE @THEOVERLAP
Roy Keane could not believe how old the Dutchman wasCredit: YOUTUBE @THEOVERLAP
Keane was in shock his former Manchester United teammate was younger than himCredit: YOUTUBE @THEOVERLAP
Once the world’s most expensive defender, Stam joined the podcast panel with the two Red Devils icons plus Ian Wright and Jamie Carragher.
Before opening up about his life after Man Utd the former stars sat down for a quick catch-up.
While Stam made himself comfy Keane casually asked how old the former Netherlands international was.
Stam simply answered that he was “51”.
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And Keane was shocked as he could not believe the ex-Ajax man was not older than his 52-year-old self.
Visibly shocked, the hardman said: “You’re younger than me. Jesus.”
Neville then chipped in and complimented the Treble winner saying “he looked well.”
The former Reading boss then revealed his exercise regime to keep himself looking in good shape – which stunned Neville even more.
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Stam said: “I run three or four times a week. Between 10/15km. On the treadmill or outside.”
Neville added: “Hell Jaap. I’d pull my calf if I did that!”
The former Dutch centre-back played for several European clubs including PSV Eindhoven, Man Utd, Lazio, Milan and Ajax before retiring in October 2007. 
He had a glittering three campaigns at Old Trafford during the golden years of Sir Alex Ferguson.
In his first term in 1998-99, Starm was a part of the historic Treble-winning team and in his following two seasons, he picked up two more Premier League titles. More

ST JAMES’ PARK’S city centre location in Newcastle is both its strength and weakness — and Toon’s owners are discovering there is no easy solution as they try and pack more punters in.The ‘cathedral on the hill’ towers over everything else in Newcastle and has been the home of the Magpies since 1892.
Newcastle could move away from St James’ ParkCredit: Getty
Expanding the stadium is complicated by listed buildings behind the East StandCredit: The Sun
Less than two years before the Saudis took over in 2021, despised former owner Mike Ashley gave away 10,000 free season tickets.
But those disillusioned fans — and more  — are back and the club needs to maximise that potential revenue to stay at the top.
With a 52,000 capacity, St James’ Park is not big enough — but what can be done about it?
What options are Newcastle considering?
Ideally, they would expand the stadium with the Gallowgate End and East Stand the two stands in theory able to house more fans.
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They could also demolish St James’ and start again on the same site, or even find a new one.
Why can’t they just expand?
This is where things get tricky.
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Behind the East Stand there are listed Georgian buildings used as university accommodation so there is little room for manoeuvre.
And then the noisy Gallowgate  has its own complications.
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The club purchased land behind it to turn into a fan zone, but there is a busy road leading to a hospital running by it and it has underground rail tunnels nearby.
What about starting from scratch in the same location?
This feels like the most likely solution at present.
The club, who this week surveyed fans for their thoughts, have hired the architects behind Tottenham’s stunning new stadium to put options on the table.
It would keep Newcastle at their spiritual home and enable them to build a swanky new modern arena capable of 65,000 sell-out crowds.
But there is no guarantee it is feasible.
If it is, would they take it down bit by bit while still playing there? If not, where would they move to while it’s being built? Sunderland?
Why don’t they just move?
Buying a huge plot of land and starting again would be pocket change for the Saudis.
Yet given the uniqueness and history of St James’ Park, it would prove hugely divisive.
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As Magpies boss Eddie Howe said: “My ideal would be that we stay at St James’ Park. It’s the heartbeat of the city and I wouldn’t want to see that change.”
Former chairman Sir John Hall proposed moving to Leazes Park just behind St James’ in 2007 but local opposition put paid to that. More

ROY KEANE has slammed Manchester United for the disgraceful treatment of players they have sold down the years.The club legend left the Red Devils in 2005 following an acrimonious falling out with Sir Alex Ferguson.
Roy Keane took aim at Manchester United for their bad treatment of playersCredit: Sky Sports
Treble winner Jaap Stam was sold in controversial circumstances in 2001Credit: Getty
However, it is not his own treatment that has riled the outspoken Irishman.
He instead pointed to the exits of Jaap Stam and Paul Ince as an example of United’s shoddy treatment.
Fergie infamously axed Stam because he was upset about the Dutch defender’s autobiography.
While iconic midfielder Ince was dumped with the boss reportedly believing he was too ‘arrogant’.
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And Keane defended the pair, even revealing he also had to tell Ole Gunnar Solskjaer he did not have to leave when Ferguson want him out.
Keane said on the Stick to Football podcast: “Manchester United are a great club, brilliant club, but the way they’ve treated players over the years and the way they’ve let players go – Jaap [Stam]’s not the first or the last that I’ve heard from – it’s absolutely disgraceful. Paul Ince – there’s loads of others.
“A lot of these players who probably didn’t think they’d done anything wrong. They were good pros and all that. I know sometimes you have to move players on.
“I said to Paul Ince, you didn’t have to leave, you’ve got a contract. I think Ole [Gunnar Solskjær] had the chance to leave, he said no.
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“But when the manager is saying that to you, and you’re so hurt, and obviously you’ve got your pride, it’s hard to stay.”
Stam, 51, made 127 appearances for United and was part of the Treble winning side alongside Keane in 1999.
He was sold to Lazio in 2001 – a decision Ferguson later regretted as the centre-back continued to play at the highest level for several more years.
Reflecting on his sale, Ferguson said: “At the time he had just come back from an achilles injury and we thought he had just lost a little bit.
“We got the offer from Lazio, £16.5m for a centre back who was 29. It was an offer I couldn’t refuse. But in playing terms it was a mistake.” More

ARGENTINA stars have teased Alejandro Garnacho so much over his love for Cristiano Ronaldo that he is too shy to talk.Midfielder Leandro Paredes opened up about how the Manchester United youngster has been treated during international breaks.
Alejandro Garnacho has been teased by his Argentina team-mates about his love for Cristiano RonaldoCredit: AP
Leandro Paredes said the team have joked so much that Garnacho is ‘too shy to talk’Credit: Getty
The Manchester United star has openly revealed his admiration for RonaldoCredit: Reuters
Garnacho has been a long admirer of Portuguese superstar and ex-teammate Ronaldo.
He has even adopted the Al Nassr icon’s trademark celebration – most recently after his sensational goal against Everton.
In 2022 the 19-year-old shared an image of Ronaldo on his Instagram calling the five-time Ballon d’Or winner the greatest of all time.
And it appears that his Argentinian mates have not let him forget his love for Lionel Messi’s long-term rival.
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Roma star Paderes said: “We joked about it with him. He is very shy and does not answer.
“Poor guy, we drove him crazy. We also talked to him about what the group is, somehow we try to make them feel part of it and feel comfortable.
“Although in this case he got very nervous and couldn’t talk. But as he said, I think he is his idol, he always followed him a lot and he plays quite similar.
“So it’s normal, nothing happens. Obviously, when he comes to the national team he has to change a little bit because there is ours.”
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Paredes is clearly referring to CR7’s great rival and fellow Hall-of-Famer Lionel Messi.
Garnacho was called up to play for his nation in March earlier this year but finally made his senior debut in June during a friendly against Australia.
He did not feature in La Albiceleste’s thriller clash against Brazil or Uruguay last month.
Garnacho hopes to return to playing with his countrymen for Copa America which takes place in June 2024.
In the meantime, the 19-year-old will continue to battle it out with United to ensure they secure a top-four finish in the Premier League after their miserable exit from the Champions League. More