Conor Gallagher has been compared to Frank Lampard ahead of the 2022 World Cup after being named in Gareth Southgate's 26-man England squad.
The midfielder was a surprise inclusion in the cohort named on Thursday by the Three Lions boss after only being demoted to play with England's Under-21s in September. The 22-year-old is yet to play a game for his country whilst being in the Chelsea squad after all of his four games came whilst on-loan at Crystal Palace.
As a tenacious midfielder, Gallagher looked to have missed out on the chance of making the squad after a poor start to life at Stamford Bridge in which he was left floundering in midfield as a double-pivot before being sent off half an hour into his home debut.
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Thomas Tuchel never got the best out of him, whereas Graham Potter's introduction has already yielded his first goal and a demonstration of exactly what he could bring to the national team. Although he is unlikely to start many games at the tournament, his impact from the bench may well be as important as anything else he brings.
So far this season he has started six league games and come on for five and his style is simple. Never stop running. Gallagher's energy is irrepressible and offers something that Jordan Henderson simply can't, that's not what got the attention of Jermaine Jenas though. Speaking to the BBC, the ex-Tottenham midfielder said: "I had a feeling that he might sneak in there you know. I had a feeling, he’s a goal threat."
Gallagher got eight league goals from midfield at Palace last term, a figure only bettered by Mason Mount at Chelsea. With Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic all yet to score from open play this season there is a fundamental lack of goals from midfield, and that's what Jenas likes about Gallagher.
"He reminds me a lot of Lampard and also he [Gareth Southgate] likes to promote from within," he added. "In that midfield area I can imagine he was deliberating between James Ward-Prowse, someone who is a bit more reliable and a great set-piece taker but then Gallagher just offers you something else.
"I think he is a game-changer as well Conor Gallagher. He’s the type of player that you bring on and he has an impact on the game. He presses, gets himself in the box and creates chances.
"Also, he’s won a World Cup. He was part of the Under-17s World Cup-winning side so he understands tournament football and I’m pleased for Conor."
Albeit stylistically different, Lampard was given his debut for his country at 20 whilst on the books at West Ham. His first major tournament was Euro 2004 as a 25-year-old, and he was also at Germany 2006. For Gallagher, who is still younger than Lampard at the point of a first major tournament and World Cup, he does offer the knack of arriving in the box like the all-time Chelsea scorer.
It took Lampard until turning 25 to hit more than eight goals in a season, and scoring from midfield then became Lampard's speciality. Time is still on Gallagher's side, and his off the ball work is just as impressive - something Southgate highlighted.
"He’s fantastic at pressing the ball," the England boss said. "There are going to be moments in these games where we need certain attributes and we feel he could be that sort of player. He’s not as experienced as some of the others but he has an impact in games and has a goal threat. When you look at midfielders you often ask, 'do they stop goals, create goals or scores goals?' He does a lot of all of that."
Potter was also pleased for the change he had managed to make to Gallagher's hopes, but admitted it wasn't part of his thinking. "It’s not something that I really gave too much thought to, to be honest," he explained. "It’s nice for Conor and fantastic for us, great for him, he’s going to have a really positive experience I think. Delighted for him, he’s worked really hard and he’s a fantastic person."
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