How Tottenham Hijacked Aston Villa Deal for Conor Gallagher

Conor Gallagher is poised to join Tottenham Hotspur from Atletico Madrid after the north London side hijacked Aston Villa’s proposed move for the former Chelsea midfielder.

Gallagher has scored three goals in 27 games for Atletico since joining them from Stamford Bridge for a transfer fee in the region of £34 million in August 2024.

Atletico are now set to recoup their initial investment, having agreed to sell Gallagher to Spurs for £34.6m.

Tottenham hijacked Aston Villa move for Conor Gallagher

Aston Villa had been working on a deal to sign Gallagher earlier this month and were initially confident of winning the race for his signature.

Their plan was to take the England international on loan, with a view to reassessing the situation in the summer, but that proposal left the door open for Tottenham to step in with a permanent offer.

Spurs moved quickly and decisively by agreeing a full transfer fee with Atletico, effectively removing the need for further negotiations between the selling club and Villa.

Once Atletico accepted Tottenham’s offer, the focus shifted to convincing Gallagher himself, with Spurs accelerating talks with the player and his representatives late on Monday.

Villa were left behind once Tottenham made it clear that they were prepared to match Atletico’s valuation.

Thomas Frank key to convincing Conor Gallagher to join Spurs

Aston Villa are currently 16 points and 11 places above Tottenham in the Premier League. Meanwhile, Villa finished 37 points above Spurs in the 2025 calendar year Premier League table.

Therefore, Gallagher’s decision to join Spurs amid interest from Villa may well seem strange to many observers.

However, Tottenham’s head coach Thomas Frank is understood to have played a decisive role in swinging the deal in Spurs’ favour, with Gallagher also keen to return to London after just one season in Spain.

According to The Telegraph, Frank personally contacted Gallagher to outline his plans, explain how he would fit into Tottenham’s midfield and reassure him about the club’s long-term direction, despite their lowly league position this season.

Gallagher was keen to understand whether Frank would remain in charge beyond the short term and how central he would be to the manager’s rebuild.

Spurs were also able to offer Gallagher a clearer path to regular starts. He is expected to become a key starter at Spurs — especially after Rodrigo Bentancur was recently forced to undergo surgery on a hamstring injury — whereas at Villa he would have faced competition from established midfielders such as Youri Tielemans, Boubacar Kamara, Amadou Onana and captain John McGinn.

Frank is believed to have stressed the opportunity for leadership within Tottenham’s squad, with Gallagher having captained Chelsea during large parts of his final season at Stamford Bridge when Reece James was injured.

The midfielder is expected to sign a five-and-a-half-year contract in north London and could make his debut in this weekend’s London derby against West Ham.

Conor Gallagher will be the eighth player to represent both Tottenham and Chelsea in the Premier League

Tottenham’s move for Gallagher is unlikely to go down well among Chelsea supporters. Gallagher was considered ‘one of their own’, having come through Chelsea’s youth system and spent the best part of two decades on the club’s books prior to his move to Spain.

Many Blues fans were not happy with the ownership for selling Gallagher in 2024. Those same fans might now redirect their disappointment towards the player himself for deciding to join Chelsea’s fiercest rivals.

However, Gallagher will not be the first footballer to play for both Chelsea and Tottenham in the Premier League.

Carlo Cudicini, William Gallas, Eidur Gudjohnsen, Scott Parker, Gus Poyet, Neil Sullivan and Timo Werner have all played for both in the modern top flight.

Current Spurs striker Dominic Solanke also played for Chelsea prior to moving to N17. However, Solanke’s only first-team appearance for Chelsea came in the Champions League and he never featured for the Blues in a Premier League match.