Tottenham poised to deal Chelsea £50m transfer bombshell as Blues star tops January wish list

You have to wonder what Todd Boehly is thinking. With Chelsea in a position of perilous irrelevancy, and with very few of their expensive lead balloons performing to anywhere near the standard their anticipatory hype suggested they should be, it would appear that the American owner is seriously considering the notion of undermining his manager by selling one of the only shining lights in an otherwise bleak dressing room.

You see, according to a report from The Independent, London rivals Tottenham are pushing ahead with plans to bring in a new midfielder this month, and Stamford Bridge linchpin Conor Gallagher is seemingly at the top of their transfer wish list. Spurs have been pursuing the England international for some time now, and are eager to prise him away from the Blues in the coming weeks.

To that end, it is claimed that a fee of around £50 million could be enough to convince Chelsea into a sale, with a looming need to appease the gods of Financial Fair Play resting heavy on their subconscious.

There are still, however, mitigating factors to consider. For one thing, Gallagher has emerged as a key component in Mauricio Pochettino's engine room this term, featuring 25 times already across all competitions. What's more, he has been impressive too; according to stats gurus, Whoscored, the 23-year-old has the highest average match rating of any player at Stamford Bridge so far this season, narrowly beating summer signing Cole Palmer into second place.

Then there is Gallagher himself, who is said to be 'enjoying the greater responsibility' of his enhanced role at Stamford Bridge. Certainly, he does not appear to be chomping at the bit to escape his boyhood club.

And yet, at a time when the last thing Chelsea can afford to do is let their brightest talent waltz out of the exit door, much less to a bitter foe, it would appear that the board are considering the prospect of a January sale. Evidently, neither the manager nor the player are particularly eager for the transfer to happen, and yet, it could regardless.

Ultimately, if Gallagher's departure is sanctioned it will raise yet more awkward questions about the direction and rationality of Chelsea's supposed project. How can the repeated and exorbitant purchases of unproven talent be justified when it comes at the cost of high-performing, homegrown assets? How can a club spend upwards of £1 billion on incoming transfers, and yet still be so shockingly, gormlessly short of reaching their end goal?

When a prospective transfer like this is mooted, you naturally find yourself asking who it benefits. In this instance, it would appear that the only real winners are Tottenham and the nerve-ridden accountants in the Stamford Bridge boardroom.

From a footballing perspective, at least, selling Gallagher at this precise moment in time makes no sense whatsoever. But then again, it is difficult to remember the last time that Chelsea did something which genuinely aided their cause on the pitch. Everything is numbers-driven wishful thinking. Common sense is but a distant memory. If Gallagher goes, it will be yet another damning indictment of Boehly's nonsensical experiment in blind hedonism.