Todd Boehly gets Mykhailo Mudryk transfer instruction over Chelsea star as glaring issue spotted

Mauricio Pochettino has suggested that Chelsea could sign a new midfielder in the January transfer window

Posted Friday, December 15, 2023 by football.london

Todd Boehly gets Mykhailo Mudryk transfer instruction over Chelsea star as glaring issue spotted
Todd Boehly has been told sell Mudryk instead of £52m Chelsea star as glaring issue spotted

Gabby Agbonlahor has encouraged Chelsea to sell Mykhailo Mudryk instead of Conor Gallagher in the upcoming transfer window. The 23-year-old midfielder was heavily linked with an exit from Stamford Bridge in the summer but, following the appointment of Mauricio Pochettino, he's become a key component in the Blues starting lineup.

Gallagher, who has just 18 months remaining on his contract in west London, has featured 15 times for Chelsea in the Premier League this term, proving four assists. After Christopher Nkunku picked up a knock in pre-season, the Cobham graduate was tasked with the difficult job of filling his shoes.

While Gallagher hasn't managed to offer as much as the former RB Leipzig marksman in front of goal, he's done well and often led by example with his relentless pressing. With the England international yet to pen an extension, he faces an increasingly uncertain future ahead of January.

Speaking on talkSPORT, Agbonlahor insisted that it would be a 'silly' mistake to let Gallagher leave. The former Aston Villa striker said: "It's very, very silly. Let Mudryk go, he can't run with the ball.

"For me, Gallagher is a very good player but 50 games, three goals is not good enough. You want to see the Conor Gallagher from Crystal Palace, eight goals in 34 games. If he can get that form back, I would keep him and then Mudryk, you go."

It remains to be seen whether Gallagher will leave Chelsea over the festive period, but if he does then Todd Boehly will be keen to know that he's currently valued at £51.6million by the CIES Football Observatory. The Blues would be dealt a major boost to their hopes of evading Financial Fair Play infringement if they were to sell an academy player, whose sale goes down as straight profit.

Following Chelsea's defeat to Everton last weekend, Pochettino suggested that he may look to sign a new midfielder in January. The Blues manager said: "I think it's one thing, before we talk about performance or system or everything, what happens is little by little to change the mentality, to fight expectation and reality.

"Expectation is massive, Chelsea always expectation is to win the Premier League and after is the reality. The team is still fighting for different circumstances. Sometimes it's good, reality check, we need to fight. If we want to win it is to be more ruthless in our behaviour.

"Not because we are Chelsea we are going to win games, not because we are Chelsea we play well and deserve, that is our reality. If we want to go up, it's not only playing well, it's about being tough with ourselves. We are going to push the player, the players need to push themselves also.

"Then there's a massive assessment from the beginning of the season, from day one until today. When the transfer window opens, we will see what we can do. I will not say I need to ask for more player or less player but it's to see if the perception matches the reality.

"Is expectation here, reality here because we are missing something in the middle. That is the reality, maybe we need to improve our reality."