Barcelona are reportedly all set to make a shocking swoop for 17-year old wonder kid Tony Gallacher. Gallacher plays for Scottish Championship side Falkirk and has attracted a lot of interest from top European clubs with the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Everton all keeping tabs on him. However, according to The Sun, Barcelona are most likely to pip the competition and sign the teenager for their ‘B’ team.
The teenage sensation was the subject of a failed bid of £100,000 earlier in the summer from Stoke City and Manchester United had a request to watch the player during a training spell rejected.
Gallacher is a promising left-back who has been with Falkirk since he was a 10-year old before briefly moving to the Forth Valley Football Academy in 2014-15. Having graduated from the academy in the summer of 2015, the teenager returned to Falkirk and was heavily involved with the Bairns’ development squad before making his debut as a 16-year old for Falkirk in a Scottish Cup tie against Fraserburgh FC in November 2015.
Having seen him come through the ranks in the academy, manager Peter Houston has backed Gallacher this season, handing him his debut in the Scottish second tier against Dumbarton FC in December 2016. Gallacher has made seven first team appearances so far across all competitions, and the left-back has given a great account of himself, having set up four goals for his team.
An attacking full-back in all sense, Gallacher has truly excelled in the few opportunities that he has been afforded and already looks like a ready-made replacement for first-team left-back Luke Leahy when the Englishman eventually moves on from the club.
The 17-year old has been a part of the Scotland National Team’s youth setup and has featured for the Scottish U-16’s, U-17’s, before making his debut for the U-19’s in October 2016.
Falkirk have reportedly slapped a price tag of £750,000 on their prodigy and manager Houston accepted earlier this month that the club are resigned to losing the highly-coveted teenager. Speaking to The Sun, Houston said,
“I’ve had phone calls from all sorts of people around all sorts of different clubs asking about Tony. Word gets about and scouts swarm.”
“People have asked me what it would take to get him but I tell them they’ll have to put in a bid and then we’ll see. Falkirk will always need to be a selling club but we’re also in a good financial position so it would have to be an offer that is too good to turn down.”
Gallacher has been making the right noises and having broken into the first team at such a young age and the level of performances that he has then shown, he really looks like a bright prospect. And when clubs of such stature are battling for him, not a lot needs to be said about the potential that the kid possesses. With Barcelona stealing a march on the competition, it looks all but certain that Gallacher could soon become a part of the Barcelona ‘B’ squad.