If there’s one consistent theme from Atlético Madrid’s summer 2024 transfer window, it’s quality over quantity. Having sold Çağlar Söyüncü to Fenerbahçe for €8.5 million and allowed Mario Hermoso, Stefan Savić and Gabriel Paulista to leave for free, they have reinforced their defense with the arrival of Euro winner Robin Le Normand from Real Sociedad for €34.5 million as well as Clément Lenglet on loan from Barcelona, whilst Argentine veteran has replaced Horațiu Moldovan as the club’s new backup goalkeeper.

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Atleti have also shaken up their attack by selling João Félix, Álvaro Morata, Samu Omorodion and parting ways with Memphis Depay, fortifying their frontline with the acquisitions of Alexander Sørloth and Julián Álvarez. In midfield, they have loaned out Saúl Ñíguez and Arthur Veremeeren to Sevilla and RB Leipzig, respectively, and brought in Conor Gallagher for a fee of €42 million. In this article, we will be investigating Conor Gallagher and what he can offer Atlético Madrid.

Name: Conor Gallagher

Position: Center Midfielder

Country: England

Age: 24

Height: 182cm

Preferred Foot: Right

Last Club: Chelsea

Gallagher was brought up at Chelsea’s academy and went on several loans including Charlton Athletic, Swansea City, West Bromwich Albion, and Crystal Palace. After a successful loan spell at Crystal Palace, he stayed at Chelsea for two seasons as a first-team player.

Goals + Assists

How many goals and assists a midfielder has tells us the profile of the player and what his qualities are and although these are not necessary they add value to the player.

Here we can see that Gallagher has one of the most xG and has the most goals scored among Atlético’s players, though this is by a fine margin. In addition, he only has an xG tally of slightly more than 0.1 which doesn’t tell us that he is a goal threat.

This image tells us that Gallagher is not a player known for being a playmaker with just above 0.1 expected assists. Once more, this tells us that he cannot be considered as a chance-creator for his team.

Forward Passing

How many forward passes a midfielder makes tells us his ability to progress the ball into more advanced areas, whilst it also tells us his profile as a player as perhaps he likes to create from deep or he likes to receive the ball higher up the field.

From this image, we can deduce that Gallagher does not have the profile to be a deep-lying playmaker as although he does have high precision, he has very few passes attempted. This tells us that he is not made for a possession-based side, however, for Simeone, this is not something essential as even though they do like to have the ball, it is not a fundamental part of their game.

Passing

How many passes a midfielder makes tells us how involved he is in the possession and how important his figure is when in positional play. 

This image shows us that Gallagher does not have a large number of passes per 90 with high precision. This tells us that he is not very involved in the possession of his team as he does not attempt many passes and this shows that he is perhaps not the most comfortable player on the ball.

Defensive Duels

Being a consistent winner of duels in the midfield is essential for the team to be compact and solid when defending.

In this image, we can observe that Gallagher has the second-most defensive duels per 90 with more than a 50% success rate, however, he does has the least precision among Atlético’s players. This shows that he is quite good at defensive duels as his data is from the Premier League where duels are harder to win. This is important for Atlético Madrid, as Simeone values defensive solidity and is a priority for his team.

Aerial Duels

Being able to win aerial duels in the midfield is key to adapt to any team as there will be teams that like to play direct football.

Here we can observe that Gallagher is quite average in the air having similar values to Koke and Pablo Barrios. This shows that his aerial ability is not one of his strengths.

This chart compares Conor Gallagher with the rest of the Premier League players in his position using percentiles in different aspects of the game. The percentiles work in the way that whatever the number, he is better than that percentage of players. If it is 70, he is better than 70%.

In this chart, we can see that he is above the average in expected goals and assists which tells us that this is not a weakness, however, it isn’t a major strength of his game. This is because he is in the 60th and 70th percentiles for most of the aspects.

When it comes to possession, we can see that he is above the average in all of the aspects, however, he doesn’t stand out in any. This tells us that he is not a player that is known for generating or playing forward passes to progress the ball.

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Finally, in his defensive repertoire, he lacks in some aspects but is mostly above average just like in his possession and offensive attributes. All in all, we can see that he is a very all-rounded player who does not stand out in any major part of his game.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Conor Gallagher is an average signing for Atlético Madrid as it is true that he adds depth to a position that faced two departures this summer. However, he is an all-rounded player who does not stand out in any aspect and can be considered a box-to-box as he can play a part in all of the phases of the game. In addition, he has no experience abroad having always played in England, so we will have to see how he adapts to a more technically demanding league such as the Spanish one.

By: Juan Fernandez Valencia / @ScoutLaLiga

Featured Image: @GabFoligno / Chris Brunskill / Fantasista / Getty Images