Conor Gallagher would be ‘cherry on top’ for United

Paul Parker has claimed that the addition of Conor Gallagher to Ruben Amorim’s squad in January would be the ‘cherry on top’ for the coach.

It’s certainly being considered by INEOS chiefs, too.

Back in the final days of the summer window, United had a loan offer rejected for Gallagher after Atletico Madrid made it clear they would only facilitate a permanent sale. Weeks prior, they had also rebuffed the same approach from Crystal Palace, who were keen on bringing the former loanee back to Selhurst Park.

However, the midfielder has since been utilised sparingly by Diego Simeone at the Metropolitano.

How Gallagher is faring this campaign in Spain

He’s started only twice in the opening 12 La Liga matches and has totalled a measly 339 minutes in action. In Europe, Gallagher has featured in all four of Atleti’s UCL fixtures thus far, albeit only twice from the off.

Such a reduced role has resulted in the 25-year-old being completely cast aside from the England setup, having not been called up since 2025/2026 got underway.

With an abundance of talent across the field for Thomas Tuchel to choose from each international break, he’s hardly going to be looking at the likes of Gallagher, who isn’t playing anywhere near enough to warrant a place over his national counterparts.

From the player’s perspective, he’ll be desperate to secure increased game time elsewhere in the second half of the term to give him even the slightest chance of making Tuchel’s World Cup squad next summer.

He did travel with the Three Lions to Qatar in 2022 but was an unused substitute throughout the tournament. Two years later, the Chelsea graduate had done enough in Gareth Southgate’s eyes to feature five times at Euro 2024, where England reached the final before losing to Spain.

A return to the Premier League would likely entice Gallagher, as it would allow him to ply his trade in a much more familiar environment and, ideally, reignite the best version of himself.

Parker: Gallagher could be ‘the one’ for Amorim

Parker poured praise on the former Blue when speaking to UtdDistrict this week, suggesting he’d be a perfect fit for his former club, United.

“If you’re looking to take it forward slowly and you want to do something, you have to have something in the back end that you look to build on,” he began.

“You look to build on with that person coming in on loan, or you see you get someone on loan who does well, you get that calibre of player to come in, get it cemented in, then Conor is the one. He’s the one player I think they need.

Exclusive: Man United handed Conor Gallagher transfer verdict after January transfer possibility emerges ⬇️🚨https://t.co/asFl6vkvtX

— UtdDistrict (@UtdDistrict) November 14, 2025

“One player who plays a lot of football, doesn’t get injured often and is willing to play. I’ve watched him many a time when he was at Palace and when he was at Chelsea, and every time you see him grimacing, the lad wants to play games of football.

Click here to read article