It was at a gastropub in Cobham that Thomas Tuchel ran into Conor Gallagher ahead of Chelsea's FA Cup semi-final against Crystal Palace. The midfielder hadn't been given permission by the Blues to play for his loan club against them at Wembley, understandably so given the stakes. So there was only one thing Tuchel could do.
"I apologised," the Chelsea head coach said. "I know how competitive he is and I know his character, I like him a lot and it was a pleasure to have him here in pre-season. The rules were clear when we made the loan. I can totally understand his disappointment, but these were the rules when we made the loan and we don’t want to suffer from our rules.”
Without Gallagher's energy and drive in midfield, Chelsea eased beyond Palace. A 2-0 win was recorded and Tuchel's side will take on Liverpool in the FA Cup final later this month. Gallagher will have to watch on once more as several of the teammates he played alongside at youth level in the Blues' academy compete for silverware.
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Gallagher will likely get the opportunity to join them next season, however. Tuchel has privately and publicly stated that he would like to integrate the 22-year-old into his first-team squad this summer. “I believe Conor can be a part of our squad and can play a role with us," the German coach said last month.
"But I am not the only one to decide. We need to speak after the season with everybody, speak after the season about what Conor wants, we need to see what the situation is and what role we have for him that he can fight for.
"There needs to be something to fight, a role and perspective of where you are, where you can be, what you need to achieve. So we have to be very clear with him and he needs to be clear with us. Then we will sort it out. His development is extraordinary and outstanding."
It's understood that Tuchel views Gallagher as an alternative to N'Golo Kante, who has a little more than a year remaining on his contract at Chelsea. The volume of the England international's output without the ball has particularly caught the eye, as has his ability to arrive in the box and threaten the goal, something that is lacking from the Blues' current midfield options.
Gallagher has struck eight open-play goals in the Premier League this term, more than Kante, Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic and Ruben Loftus-Cheek combined. But just two of those have come since the start of 2022 and the academy graduate's form has just dipped a little in recent weeks.
Part of the reason why – according to football.london's Crystal Palace correspondent, Mark Wyatt – is the amount of high-intensity minutes played by Gallagher this term. But he also stressed that the regular absence of James McArthur from the Palace midfield has impacted the Chelsea loanee's game.
He said: "After lighting up the first half of the season, there’s no doubt that Gallagher’s output in front of goal has slowed down. He finished off a wonderful team move away at Brighton in January before scoring another beauty against Watford a month later, but those are his only two goal involvements in the league since the turn of the year.
"It can be put down to several factors, not least the amount of game time he’s had this season. This has already been the busiest season in terms of minutes that Gallagher has played at club level, while he’s also played four matches for the England Under-21s and three for the seniors. With energy and work rate being two of his main attribute it’s no wonder his productivity at the top end of the pitch has slowed down.
"There’s also the fact that Gallagher’s ability to push forward in Patrick Vieira’s team was complimented perfectly during the early stages of the season by having James McArthur alongside him. When the Scotsman got injured and missed three months of the campaign, it took away Gallagher’s support in midfield and meant he couldn’t be as abrasive getting forward without knowing McArthur had his back just behind. He’s partnered as many as four other midfielders during McArthur’s absence, though none have really replicated the same partnership he had with the veteran.
"What does that mean for Chelsea? It should lower the expectations for Gallagher to come in and be a swash-buckling midfielder ready to lead the Blues to glory on all fronts – that was neither healthy nor likely.
"What it will also show Chelsea is that one piece won’t fix the puzzle. With N’Golo Kante and Jorginho in their early 30s, Chelsea's next owner should look to bring in players that will complement Gallagher and accentuate his talents instead of hoping he’ll be a cure-all fix for the future."
