Sheffield United could finally sign former target Sam Gallagher with Sky Sports reporting Southampton are willing to let him leave.
Last summer, the Sun claimed that the Blades were interested in Gallagher on loan. However, at the time it was thought that a deal for the striker was too expensive.
Almost 12 months on and United are in an entirely different position. Next season they will be playing in the Premier League and be reaping the financial benefits that brings.
It’s understood that clubs from the top flight and Championship have already shown interest in Gallagher – who is contracted at St Mary’s until 2021.
How expensive would Gallagher be?
(Photo by Jon Bromley/MI News/NurPhoto
The same Sun report from 2018 also claimed that Blackburn Rovers and Stoke City were keen on the 23-year-old. They said that Stoke were willing to pay £7m for Gallagher.
It is unlikely that the forward would now be valued at more than that, especially as the Saints apparently no longer see him in their first team plans. Perhaps the Blades could even sign him for less.
As for wages, the Daily Mail reports that Gallagher currently earns around £22,000-a-week in Hampshire. This would have been an issue when United were looking at the former England Under-20 international last year.
Yet they now have more financial power and would be in a realistic position to match Gallagher’s current earnings – should they still be interested in the attacker.
Gallagher is a product of the Southampton academy after joining from Plymouth Argyle’s youth system. He has had three loan spells in the Championship, playing for MK Dons, Blackburn and Birmingham City. Gallagher’s most prolific spell came at Rovers, where he scored 12 goals in 47 games during the 2016/17 season.
To date he has played 26 times for the Saints, scoring twice. Now it seems Gallagher’s future lies away from the south coast.
