As a 22-year-old full international with an outside chance of making the winter World Cup squad, playing for England's Under-21 team is not where Conor Gallagher will have wanted to be during this first international break. But when he chose to stay at Chelsea this summer he must always have known it was a possibility.
It would be too simplistic to say that Gallagher's start to the season could only have ended two ways; one being as a wildcard option for Gareth Southgate to look at during the final England games before the tournament in Qatar, and the other being in Lee Carsley's U21 set-up.
That is the risk that he took though. Gallagher playing week-in-week-out for Patrick Viera, scoring goals and causing havoc in opposition defences was the spark that caught Southgate's eye in the first place. Even with a good start to the season at Stamford Bridge, there was no guarantee he would be picked for this squad. Had he gone to Crystal Palace this summer and started well there's still no certainty that he would have been included.
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With Declan Rice, Mason Mount, Jude Bellingham, Kalvin Phillips and James Ward-Prowse all trusted by Southgate it is a tough shop to enter. Jordan Henderson is a favourite of Southgate too. Gallagher, with only four caps and just two starts, would be the second least experienced player picked - only Ivan Toney has less of the outfield players picked.
The way to prove people wrong after a tough start at Chelsea is to make the headlines and to stand out when given the chance, and that's exactly what Gallagher did. Thrust into a strong England U21 side to face Italy, Gallagher demonstrated his attitude towards the match straight away, winning a penalty for his side in the first minute.
The former Charlton and Swansea midfielder then harried to win the ball back high up the pitch for his side moments later with his tackle helping to set up the second goal. Within five minutes the game was done and Gallagher, a senior player in the side, had left his mark.
Although this alone is unlikely to make Southgate regret or rethink his decision to demote Gallagher back to the Carsley's squad, being impactful when playing below his skill level is proof of what makes Gallagher so good. Just like Tammy Abraham - now in the senior squad after impressing at Roma - Gallager has graduated from this level before. After receiving his first cap in November last year the goal would have been to never drop down again.
Abraham, who had a similar experience in club football at Chelsea, scored 23 Championship goals in his first senior season, his performance earned a Premier League season at Swansea where he struggled. To the frustration of Abraham, he then had to spend another year in the second division. Instead of sulking, he fired Aston Villa to promotion with 25 goals. Since then he has been Chelsea's top scorer, Jose Mourinho's top scorer, been on the scoresheet for his country and won the Champions League
Patience will be a virtue for Gallagher in a similar spot. He knows what he has to do, similar to Mount's early season struggles at Chelsea his form will need to improve to be in Southgate's reckoning. On Mount, who is yet to score this term, former right Glenn Johnson said: "He needs to be scoring and creating goals because that’s what he’s good at."
He told Bettingodds.com: "Mason was at the centre of everything that Chelsea did well last season, so he will be disappointed that he doesn’t have a goal and a couple of assists already this season.
"You need to be playing well to play for England, that’s for sure. It can all change quickly and he can get a goal or assist from somewhere and end up with some pretty decent figures. To cement himself in England’s World Cup starting line-up, then he’s got to start getting himself some goals.”
Gallagher has less credit with Southgate, unlike Mount who has played more than 30 times for his country and scored four goals. It is realistic that there is almost nothing Gallagher could do in the next nine matches for his club that would earn him a spot on the plane to Qatar which can be a dispiriting thought, but with Gallagher's mindset, it's only going to be something used to fuel his improvement from here on.
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