As for our current midfielders that you mentioned:

McCarthy: lots of talk about him going to Celtic. I think our link to Gallagher could have something to do with that. And even though we probably don't particularly want to lose him, if he's one of our few players receiving interest from other clubs then I think we'll take the opportunity to make a profit.

Kouyate: seems pretty certain to be playing as a CB for the time being with all of our injuries. And has been doing well there, so I could maybe see him being transitioned into a CB role more regularly anyway. Additionally, I don't think Luka and Kouyate works well as a CM partnership, and I think the club have maybe come to the same conclusion, thus their interest in CMs like Gallagher.

Schlupp: doesn't play as a CM, so again he's not competing for the same spot as Gallagher. He'll be competing with Eze for the LM position, or occasionally used as a striker, or maybe as a LB if we're desperate. I see his role as more rotational.

Meyer: Roy appears to have no faith in him, and I know some people here really like him and want him to succeed but I tend to agree with Roy. I think the club wants him to move on asap and to get him off the wage bill. Whatever your feelings on him are, I see no indication that he'll be anything more than an occasional substitute this season, regardless of whether we bring Gallagher in or not.

McArthur: a brilliant player and obviously one that Roy favours. But he's also 32 and might struggle to play a full 90 mins week after week. We can't necessarily rely on him to the same degree that we have in previous seasons.

Jairo: yeah, bringing in a young CM would be rough on Jairo. I think he's looked pretty good lately, but I'm still not 100% convinced he's ready to be a starter in our CM against strong Premier League opposition. I do like him though, and I agree it would be tough for him to go back down in the pecking order.

Eze: in a 4-4-2 Roy will be playing him at LM as you mentioned, so again there's no overlap with Gallagher, who'll be in one the the two CM positions.

Luka: very likely to always be picked as one of two CMs if he's available. The question is who's going to be his partner.

So in summary, if McCarthy does leave, I really only see proper competition between McArthur and Jairo for that position based on our current squad. It's not really looking as stacked to me as you described it. And if the club genuinely believes that Gallagher would be an improvement over those two players, then I'm inclined to believe them.

As for having a "no developing other club's players" policy, I just don't agree. Loans can be extremely useful for clubs of our size. We've utilised them to great effect in recent history. At the end of the day, all that really matters is winning games and surviving in the Premier League. If loans can help us do that, then so be it. We should use every tool at our disposal.

Personally think we could upgrade all of our midfielders. Not one stands out. McCarthur yes as hes been a great servant, Luka too has contributed some important goals. However if we are to progress as a team we could add more quality into our engine room. Its disappointing if we have no option to buy Gallagher as we are just developing their player for them but it works both ways, he will potentially help us to stay up this season. Its probably sensible from the club, Its possibly Roys final season with us which means theres upheaval to come at the end of the season with a transition to a new manager which will hopefully leave some funds in the kitty.

We have some promising midfielders in our under 23 squad like Kirby or Boateng, so let's hope some of them kick on this season?

As for our current midfielders that you mentioned:

McCarthy: lots of talk about him going to Celtic. I think our link to Gallagher could have something to do with that. And even though we probably don't particularly want to lose him, if he's one of our few players receiving interest from other clubs then I think we'll take the opportunity to make a profit.

Kouyate: seems pretty certain to be playing as a CB for the time being with all of our injuries. And has been doing well there, so I could maybe see him being transitioned into a CB role more regularly anyway. Additionally, I don't think Luka and Kouyate works well as a CM partnership, and I think the club have maybe come to the same conclusion, thus their interest in CMs like Gallagher.

Schlupp: doesn't play as a CM, so again he's not competing for the same spot as Gallagher. He'll be competing with Eze for the LM position, or occasionally used as a striker, or maybe as a LB if we're desperate. I see his role as more rotational.

Meyer: Roy appears to have no faith in him, and I know some people here really like him and want him to succeed but I tend to agree with Roy. I think the club wants him to move on asap and to get him off the wage bill. Whatever your feelings on him are, I see no indication that he'll be anything more than an occasional substitute this season, regardless of whether we bring Gallagher in or not.

McArthur: a brilliant player and obviously one that Roy favours. But he's also 32 and might struggle to play a full 90 mins week after week. We can't necessarily rely on him to the same degree that we have in previous seasons.

Jairo: yeah, bringing in a young CM would be rough on Jairo. I think he's looked pretty good lately, but I'm still not 100% convinced he's ready to be a starter in our CM against strong Premier League opposition. I do like him though, and I agree it would be tough for him to go back down in the pecking order.

Eze: in a 4-4-2 Roy will be playing him at LM as you mentioned, so again there's no overlap with Gallagher, who'll be in one the the two CM positions.

Luka: very likely to always be picked as one of two CMs if he's available. The question is who's going to be his partner.

So in summary, if McCarthy does leave, I really only see proper competition between McArthur and Jairo for that position based on our current squad. It's not really looking as stacked to me as you described it. And if the club genuinely believes that Gallagher would be an improvement over those two players, then I'm inclined to believe them.

As for having a "no developing other club's players" policy, I just don't agree. Loans can be extremely useful for clubs of our size. We've utilised them to great effect in recent history. At the end of the day, all that really matters is winning games and surviving in the Premier League. If loans can help us do that, then so be it. We should use every tool at our disposal.

I'd love to see them loaned to a high div. 1 or Championship team, have a solid season and know they might be ready for us for the following season.