England manager Gareth Southgate has told Thomas Tuchel that Conor Gallagher's pressing ability could benefit his Chelsea team in the long-term amid Crystal Palace dilemma.
Gareth Southgate's side had fallen behind midway through the first half after Borussia Monchengladbach's Breel Embolo had headed the away side in front after some sustained pressure on the England goal. Before half-time though, the midfielder played a big role by setting up Luke Shaw for the equaliser.
The 22-year-old was withdrawn in the second half but that wasn't due to his performance, more to give others minutes. As Jamie Redknapp alluded to after the game, his performance in this fixture if backed up by an impressive Ivory Coast performance could give Southgate a big selection headache ahead of the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
READ MORE: Conor Gallagher gives Chelsea glimpse of future alongside Mason Mount as England claim justified
"I have to be totally honest, I really like him but I didn't see him becoming the player he has," he said pre-match on Sky Sports. "I watched him a lot in the Chelsea youth team and he was a good technical player, what's made the difference for him is confidence and scoring goals. When you see yourself in headlines, scoring goals live on Sky against Everton, they are the moments where everyone talks about you. People will go out in the garden and try and replicate those moments. He's nicking in with goals, scruffy goals, getting his numbers up, that's what gets you noticed.
"I think as a footballer you notice that. When you're playing okay, getting 7/10 that's fine. It's when you start scoring goals, that's what gets you on the back pages, that's when people start to talk about you in a different light as a midfield player. He's become a complete one." As already visible, Gallagher was the toast of the country with Harry Kane and the national media waxing lyrical on his potential going forward from here.
The midfielder did send a transfer message to Chelsea and Thomas Tuchel ahead of a key decision needing to be made in the summer, and Southgate himself has identified the key attribute that could potentially be used in the Blues midfield next term. "He is infectious. He can set the tone for the rest of the team, you see that with his club and he presses with ambition," the England manager told Sky Sports.
"He goes and makes contact and turns a lot of the ball over. To a degree, we are trying to work through the two games and manage the players. It has been a bizarre week with everything going on.
"We feel Mason Mount and Gallagher press well but can leave us vulnerable to the switch, the Swiss worked that out. We had an idea of what we wanted to do, we would have wanted Bukayo Saka to have a look at that."
football.london understands that the Chelsea manager is planning to offer Gallagher a squad spot next season but whether that would be enough to convince the midfielder to stay at Stamford Bridge remains to be seen.
