Patrick Vieira's desire to keep Chelsea loanee Conor Gallagher at Selhurst Park means the Blues may find themselves in a similar situation to when Armando Broja joined Southampton on loan.
Ralph Hasenhuttl is a manager desperate to see the Chelsea loanee extend his stay on the South Coast with the Saints after his impressive campaign so far but that would mean leaving west London permanently.
Now, Patrick Vieira has joined the Austrian manager in pleading to another Chelsea loanee as he tries to convince Conor Gallagher that Crystal Palace is the best place for his career at the moment.
Gallagher has made it 11 goal contributions in his 22 Premier League appearances so far this season as he added a goal and an assist at Vicarage Road.
The goal was one of highest quality, the midfielder stopping the ball dead after a fast-paced cross delivered by Tyrick Mitchell from the left flank.
After trapping the ball, there was only going to be one result and that was the net bustling to the sound of joy from travelling Eagles fans, who were happy to see the first win for their side in the top flight since beating Norwich back in December.
Days later and the 22-year-old is looking to continue the momentum built in his performances after he had to sit out the Chelsea London derby due to Premier League rules, when an in-form Burnley come to south London.
The south Londoners drew the reverse fixture 3-3 and their number 23 on that occasion got an assist for one of Christian Benteke's goals.
Ahead of the reverse encounter this weekend, Vieira was quizzed about what he wants to see happen with their midfield maestro come the summer and his answer mirrored what Hasenhuttl has said in the past regarding Albanian striker Broja.
"We didn’t speak about it.," the Arsenal legend said in his pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon when asked about if he's had any conversations with Gallagher regarding his future after this season.
"We know we’ll have him for the year then we never know. I believe when you look at the way he plays he’s really happy here.
"He knows how important he is for the club and he’s enjoying his game. For a player like that, what is important is to keep playing week after week. We give him the support he needs to be on the field to show his talent."
Vieira's best attempts to mirror Hasenhuttl may fall on death ears, with football.london understanding that the midfielder is indeed set to be introduced slowly into the first team set up for 2022/23 alongside a new signing on the agenda, with both Declan Rice and Aurelien Tchouameni linked.
Tuchel himself has admitted recently that he's a huge fan of Gallagher and in fact, before Palace's offer came in, was set to give the goalscoring midfielder a chance to make an impression in the squad before a late change of heart occurred at the last minute from all sides.
"We wanted to have him here, like I said many times. In the pre-season, I saw he could have a chance to have an impact in our squad," Tuchel explained.
"He did a fantastic pre-season and he’s a fantastic guy and he cares so much about Chelsea because he’s from the academy.
"It was very nice to have him around and he was impressive in pre-season, and then the opportunity came and they (Crystal Palace) offered him a role which he took and you see what it does to a player if they are needed, if they are playing an important role.
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"He was not just offered that role, he took it and he took it with quality, with the energy he has, and now he took several steps in his development which is quite impressive.
"We are happy that he is our player, we are happy it is like this. Would it be the same if he had stayed? Nobody knows, but it was a good decision because he clearly developed and we will take this decision late because there’s no need to take it today.
"The season is by far not over and he needs to finish the season with Crystal Palace in the best possible way and we will see what he wants, what we want, and then we will have a talk and decide. But I’m happy that he’s our player."
