Phil Hay: Conor Gallagher did not have Leeds United medical
Conor Gallagher did not undergo a medical at Leeds United despite a report claiming he did, according to The Athletic’s Phil Hay.
Writing on The Athletic website, the ex-Yorkshire Evening Post journalist reported that Leeds did want to sign Gallagher, 21, on loan from Chelsea and were let down by his decision to join Crystal Palace instead.
Football news website 90min reported that Gallagher even had a medical at Leeds before snubbing a move to West Yorkshire and opting for Palace.
However, Hay has reported that is not the case.
“Gallagher was the midfielder they wanted and Leeds were disappointed not to get him,” said The Athletic’s Leeds correspondent.
“I saw it reported that he had a medical here but it didn’t actually get that far. Victor Orta presented Leeds’ offer and Orta’s pitches often win the day but Crystal Palace fought very hard for him.
“Patrick Vieira was as set on signing Gallagher as Bielsa was and in the end, Gallagher chose Palace.”
Not as much of a snub
Leeds fans were understandably unhappy with the report saying that Gallagher had a medical with the Yorkshire club before snubbing them for Palace.
We totally get that too – he would have wasted a lot of peoples’ time by doing that.
However, with Hay reporting that is not actually what happened, it should stop Gallagher from being public enemy number one at Elland Road.
Last season, the England Under-21 international impressed while on loan at West Brom despite the Midlands club suffering relegation back to the Championship.
Bielsa saw in Gallagher what a lot of West Brom fans did – a player who’s hard-working, loves to apply pressure and is also in need of refining.
Gallagher is not the finished article, he’s still quite raw in some regards.
But Bielsa loves a grafter, a midfield energy source. Gallagher would have been that.
In other Leeds United news, Bielsa really wants this central midfielder after a man of the match performance on Sunday.