Tottenham Hotspur overpaid significantly in order to sign Conor Gallagher from Atletico Madrid this January transfer window, spending a whopping 40 million euros on a player who would have cost Aston Villa at least 10 million euros less than that as a loan transfer with an option to buy.
Gallagher has a decent track record in the Premier League, as he was once a great player for mid table club Crystal Palace, but he was discarded by both Chelsea and Atletico Madrid - two clubs Tottenham should be trying to compete with in the Champions League.
So because of that, Gallagher came in to the N17 with mixed feelings. On the one hand, Tottenham fans were happy to have an experienced Premier League midfielder with leadership traits and an eye for goal to add depth to a position that just got hammered by the Rodrigo Bentancur injury. And on the other hand, Spurs supporters did not like the price, the fact that Gallagher has no creativity or progressive ability as a passer, the reality that he was discarded by both Atleti and Chelsea, and the fact that he could potentially hold back a more talented box to box midfielder in Lucas Bergvall.
Tottenham keep getting awful news
Well, that last fact is a negative no longer, because Bergvall has suffered yet another injury. Having just come back from a brief absence due to injury, Bergvall went down immediately again, leaving the pitch in pain after about an hour against Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday night.
As luck would have it, like Bentancur and Mohammed Kudus before him, Bergvall's injury is actually pretty serious. According to a report from Swedish outlet Fotbollskanalen.se, Lucas Bergvall is going to have to miss two to three months with the injury he suffered against Dortmund.
So in the end, it looks like, in a sick twist of fate, Tottenham Hotspur were justified for spending 40 million euros on Conor Gallagher in order to beat Aston Villa to the punch. Beacuse if they did not sign Gallagher and he ended up at Villa, not only would Villa be a stronger team in the European races, but Spurs would literally only have Archie Gray, Joao Palhinha (dealing with a minor injury), and Pape Matar Sarr (who recently fell ill, by the way) as the three midfielders for the two positions behind Xavi Simons in the No. 10 role.
Gallagher's transfer has become a necessary evil. Now, he is not the underwhelming veteran holding back Bergvall's path to playing time. He is actually the emergency replacement for an injured Bergvall in the future, but that raises the question of Tottenham now having to sign a deep lying midfielder who can progress the ball with their passing - and there are no such great options right now for that.