Gallagher is a contender to partner Rice and Bellingham in England’s midfield
But if confusion has seemed to envelop Chelsea for much of the subsequent year, for now Gallagher is a beneficiary of the chaos. As a homegrown player, he assumed a particular value to Todd Boehly: he would count as pure profit in the books if sold. There were Financial Fair Play reasons to cash in on Gallagher. Mauricio Pochettino saw footballing grounds to keep him. Tottenham and West Ham were among those to express an interest. Even as late as deadline day, his own future appeared uncertain.
“It was a crazy period in terms of ins and outs at Chelsea and I had conversations with the manager and he expressed that he liked me as a player and I was in his plans and I was really happy with that,” Gallagher said. Pochettino has ways of illustrating Gallagher’s importance. He has started every league game; whereas Fernandez and Caicedo, the £100m men, were both substituted in Sunday’s frenetic 4-4 draw against Manchester City, Gallagher completed the match.
He has spent much of the season as stand-in skipper, a Chelsea supporter leading his boyhood club when Reece James and Ben Chilwell are absent. “I love it when I get to wear the armband,” he said. It means he gets to captain the great Thiago Silva, to follow in the footsteps of John Terry and Frank Lampard, both inspirations to him. “More so Frank, because he was my manager last season and he helped me a lot,” Gallagher said.
Gallagher has captained Chelsea under Pochettino
Lampard had longevity at Stamford Bridge. Gallagher has been on Chelsea’s books for 15 years. It remains to be seen if his association with them will last for much longer. He is in the final two years of his contract; Chelsea may yet look to cash in, though Gallagher is optimistic he will sign a new deal. “I’m sure that will get sorted out,” he said. “Everyone knows Chelsea is my club and I love playing for them.”
If he is learning from the World Cup winner Fernandez and the biggest ever Premier League buy Caicedo, he has been shaped by non-league midfielders as well. His own career has involved spells at Charlton, Swansea, West Brom and Crystal Palace before breaking through at Chelsea. His brothers – Dan, Jake and Josh – are more accustomed to turning out for Dorking, Welling, Leatherhead, Aylesbury and Maidstone. “They have a great understanding of the game even though they’re playing at a lower standard,” the more successful sibling said. “They are all midfielders so there’s parts of their games I’ve taken off them and put in mine.”
That said, there was a harsh start to the learning process. “They chucked me in goal,” Gallagher recalled. “They gave me the goalie gloves and just battered balls me at me.” He is not the only England call-up in the family: Jake attracted attention from the England C team, representing the non-league game. The levels may be different but the aims can be the same. “Hopefully I can start to play more for England,” said Conor. It isn’t quite the same as teaming up with Caicedo and Fernandez, Bellingham and Rice, but it could be a breakthrough season for Gallagher with country as well as club.
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