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Gallagher is a contender to partner Rice and Bellingham in England\u2019s midfield <\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt 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,\u201d Gallagher said. Pochettino has ways of illustrating Gallagher\u2019s importance. He has started every league game; whereas Fernandez and Caicedo, the \u00a3100m men, were both substituted in Sunday\u2019s frenetic 4-4 draw against Manchester City, Gallagher completed the match. <\/p>\n
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. \u201cI love it when I get to wear the armband,\u201d 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. \u201cMore so Frank, because he was my manager last season and he helped me a lot,\u201d Gallagher said.<\/p>\n
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Gallagher has captained Chelsea under Pochettino<\/p>\n
Lampard had longevity at Stamford Bridge. Gallagher has been on Chelsea\u2019s 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. \u201cI\u2019m sure that will get sorted out,\u201d he said. \u201cEveryone knows Chelsea is my club and I love playing for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
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 \u2013 Dan, Jake and Josh \u2013 are more accustomed to turning out for Dorking, Welling, Leatherhead, Aylesbury and Maidstone. \u201cThey have a great understanding of the game even though they\u2019re playing at a lower standard,\u201d the more successful sibling said. \u201cThey are all midfielders so there\u2019s parts of their games I\u2019ve taken off them and put in mine.\u201d<\/p>\n
That said, there was a harsh start to the learning process. \u201cThey chucked me in goal,\u201d Gallagher recalled. \u201cThey gave me the goalie gloves and just battered balls me at me.\u201d 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. \u201cHopefully I can start to play more for England,\u201d said Conor. It isn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n