Tottenham Hotspur reacted quickly to the news that Rodrigo Bentancur would be out for multiple months with a torn hamstring, signing Conor Gallagher from Atletico Madrid right under the clutches of Aston Villa.
Although there are mixed opinions about Gallagher to Spurs, most of the reactions have been positive. Spurs have struggled in the middle of the park quite badly this season, and while Gallagher is highly unlikely to help their creativity and progressive passing from deep, he offers a lot of other positives that Tottenham are currently lacking, such as a goal scoring touch from the middle of the park and key leadership.
Gallagher was signed for 40 million euros from one of the best teams in European football to do more than just sit on the bench, and you have to figure that he is going to be an immediate starter for Thomas Frank going forward this season.
Tottenham need to keep Conor Gallagher as an 8
There are debates about where he will play, but the best option for Tottenham is to keep him as a No. 8 and not move an even bigger new signing from the summer, Dutchman Xavi Simons, from his current post in the No. 10 role.
Simons has come around strong in recent weeks as the player Spurs thought they were getting when they spent about 60 million euros to coax him over from RB Leipzig. He started off slow under the cowardly tactics of Frank, but even the embattled manager could not stop Simons's shine for long.
So Simons up top and Gallagher as one of the two midfielders behind him is pretty much sealed, as these two players were a combined 100 million euro investment between the last two Spurs transfer windows.
The last midfielder of the trio becomes the real question, then. There are merits to starting Lucas Bergvall, but as a No. 8 himself, he will likely rotate with the more experienced Gallagher, whom Frank will likely prefer, given he seems to barely know what Bergvall's strengths are at this point.
Archie Gray has come around as the starter in recent months over the rather poor Bentancur, but Frank does favor experience. And with Simons and Gallagher being more attacking options who will want to get ahead and score or assist, Joao Palhinha will likely be the favored third midfielder for Frank.
Palhinha himself has scored some nifty goals, including a bicycle kick last week in a losing effort against Bournemouth, but he has mostly distinguished himself defensively, picking up where he left off at Fulham in his Premier League return as one of the top ball winners in the top flight. The Portuguese international will be the defensive counterbalance to Simons and Gallagher in Frank's experienced midfield trio of choice.