Chelsea loanee and current Crystal Palace attacking midfielder Conor Gallagher didn't watch the London derby on Saturday afternoon between both of his sides as he was spotted elsewhere.
Gallagher, 22, was dearly missed by the Eagles as they fell to a harsh 1-0 loss against the World Champions courtesy of a Hakim Ziyech goal netted in the 88th minute.
In his absence, the likes of Wilfred Zaha and especially Michael Olise stepped up but couldn't score the all important goal that the Englishman may have if he was presented with some of the chances that the aforementioned pair missed during the contest at Selhurst Park.
"We knew the rules before signing Conor so it’s no surprise he will not get involved in the games against Chelsea," Patrick Vieira said on the magnitude of the blow prior to the game.
"So we’ve tried a different system and different players and still have a reflection [to make] on who will replace Conor."
It's a testament to just how vital Gallagher is to the south Londoners that it was evident that the potency he has provided to Vieira's outfit was clearly absent in south London on Saturday afternoon.
No wonder Thomas Tuchel wanted to have the 22-year-old as part of his squad this season before Palace's proposal changed that initial plan.
One thing that will not change though is the will Chelsea have as a club to provide the young midfielder with opportunities come the start of the 2022/23 campaign.
football.london understands that Gallagher is 'destined' to remain put in west London once his latest loan spell comes to an end and therefore denting Palace's ambitious hope to make his stay permanent.
"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 said on Gallagher in his pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon ahead of this weekend's victory.
"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.
"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."
With his future now looking more unblurred with what has been revealed in the build-up to this weekend's clashes of two teams from different sides of the capital, what would Gallagher have thought of today's match and just how both played?
Well, not very much as he didn't even watch the game from the stands as he instead wanted to drop down the tiers to support his brother in Dorking Wanderer's latest game.
The Wanderers were 2-0 victors over Chelmsford City in the National League and Daniel Gallagher, who started the affair, would have loved to see his brother spend some time away from London to support the National League South leaders who maintained their three point buffer at the top over Maidstone United.
Conor was pictured in the aftermath of the game delivering the man of the match award to James McShane and with his focus on that game in particular, it would have been likely that the most he saw of the London derby was phone updates.
