Tottenham complete first signing of January transfer window as Conor Gallagher deal confirmed

Tottenham have secured the signing of Conor Gallagher from Atletico Madrid after Spurs pounced to pip Premier League rivals Aston Villa to the 25-year-old

Tottenham have completed the signing of England international midfielder Conor Gallagher on a five-and-a-half-year contract. The 25-year-old has formally been unveiled as Thomas Frank's first recruit of the January transfer window.

He arrives from Spanish club Atletico Madrid in a deal worth in the region of £34.7million (€40million). Gallagher spent less than 18 months in La Liga after he was sold by boyhood club Chelsea in August 2024.

The former Crystal Palace loanee did not want to leave Stamford Bridge but he was shown the door following the departure of former Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino.

Regular starts have proven difficult in Madrid under Diego Simeone and Gallagher has now returned to the Premier League as he bids to keep his World Cup dream alive.

Gallagher, who has won 22 caps for the Three Lions, has not received an international call-up this season despite being named in Gareth Southgate's squad for each of the past two major tournaments.

Spurs pounced to hijack Aston Villa's deal for Gallagher and boss Frank is understood to have played a key role in the transfer process.

Villa were effectively gazumped by Tottenham following Saturday's 2-1 FA Cup victory in north London due to the hamstring injury sustained by Rodrigo Bentancur in the 3-2 Premier League defeat to Bournemouth.

The Uruguay international has now undergone surgery on the issue and is expected to be sidelined for around three months.

It means Gallagher will immediately be thrust into action to compete with both Joao Palhinha and Archie Gray for a starting berth in the centre of the park.

Tottenham had looked at signing their new player in the summer of 2024 when he departed Chelsea for Atletico but they were unable to get a deal done.

Ange Postecoglou had pushed for his arrival and there were several rounds of discussions between Tottenham chiefs and Gallagher's representatives Elite Management Agency.

Crucially, he is also a homegrown player which significantly helps Spurs, who recently sold Brennan Johnson to Crystal Palace.

Gallagher made a whopping - given he was only at the club for a short period of time - 77 appearances for Atletico, scoring seven goals.

Unfortunately, he often found himself in and out of the team and even when did start matches, he was often subbed either at half-time or on the 60-minute mark.

The English maestro also has 136 Premier League appearance to his name having also spent time on loan at West Bromwich Albion, in addition to Palace.

Gallagher enjoyed little rest last summer as he was part of Atletico's Club World Cup squad and last week, he featured for his former employers in the Spanish Super Cup semi-final defeat against Real Madrid in Saudi Arabia.