Why would Chelsea fork out for Rice or Tchouameni when they’ve got Conor Gallagher?

Conor Gallagher was excellent in Crystal Palace’s 2-0 victory away at Manchester City on Saturday, setting up the first goal for Wilfried Zaha and then adding a late second himself to clinch the three points. By costing City some points, Gallagher is already helping his parent club Chelsea and he could be set for a key role in the Blues’ first-team squad in 2022/23.

Chelsea have been linked with various midfielders this year, from pricey options like Declan Rice or Aurelien Tchouameni to free agents like Franck Kessie and Marcelo Brozovic. They certainly do need some depth in the middle, especially since Saul hasn’t worked out, but Gallagher could be the man they need.

Rather than spending €80m on Rice or €60m on Tchouameni, Chelsea could strengthen their midfield next summer simply by giving an important role to a player who is already performing week in week out in the Premier League.

Conor Gallagher’s rise to the top

After previous loans at Charlton, Swansea and West Brom, Gallagher has seriously kicked on this season and is proving what he can do at Selhurst Park. Learning from one of the best to ever do it in Patrick Vieira, the 21-year-old is continually improving.

Gallagher was destined to embark on a career in football, as he has three older brothers who also play the sport. After joining Chelsea’s academy at the age of eight, the midfielder rose through the ranks and won trophy after trophy along the way.

It hasn’t always been easy, though, as he required some minor heart surgery in 2018. “In training one day my heart started beating really fast even though I was not doing much work,” he explained to London News Online. “I was proper confused. I just thought I’d leave it, not think about it too much and then it carried on. It stayed the same in training. I got through the U19 Euros, I didn’t play much in that – but not for that reason. I came back to Chelsea to end pre-season and the first session back I had to drop out in training because I felt dizzy from my heartbeat going too fast. I had to get surgery on it, which kept me out for two months. It was minor surgery. After it was back to normal – I’ve had no problems and kicked on from there.”

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Having already fought through obstacles, Gallagher knows he has what it takes to make it at Chelsea and has taken inspiration from the success stories of other academy graduates like Tammy Abraham or Mason Mount. “Abraham and Mount have shown that if you give youngsters a chance they can do the job at Chelsea,” Gallagher said.

Chelsea would be wise to not only keep Gallagher in their squad next season, but to give the youngster a key role. He has already showed what he can do and he’s just getting started.