Crystal Palace in Conor Gallagher recall the relief

As the football world enters the busy Christmas period, it is incredibly hard for teams to be able to field their best XIs. The nature of injuries, workloads, and – at this moment in time – COVID positive tests means many teams are fielding sides that they would never have dreamt of fielding in July. However, needs must, and every winter period brings teams to make tough decisions on line-ups. Many larger clubs, though, can often turn to their loan players to help them refresh their teams in the winter break.

One player who has been threatened with a recall is Crystal Palace midfielder, Conor Gallagher. The youngster is on loan at Palace for the season, and it would be an understatement to say he has impressed. The player himself has become a key part of the Palace midfield, offering a fine blend of goals, perpetual movement and work rate. To many Palace fans, he is the beating heart of a very impressive midfield – and talk of losing him for the second half of the season was worrisome.

However, it has now been revealed that parent club Chelsea – who are facing a midfield crisis with injuries and COVID – cannot recall the player. They also cannot recall on-loan Norwich City midfielder, Billy Gilmour. This has left the title-chasing Blues with a headache – but it has also given Palace some relief.

Fears existed for some time now that a return clause might exist that could be applied in the January transfer window. Though it would have given Palace time to go and replace the player, finding a player of the quality of Gallagher would be very hard indeed.

Now, Patrick Vieira and co. can focus on the winter schedule – or what remains of it due to COVID postponements – with their key midfield talent waiting to get a game.

Palace expected to be busy in January window

However, keeping Gallagher does not mean that the club will not be looking to make some moves in the winter window. It is believed that a forward is a key priority, to help give Odsonne Edouard and Christian Benteke a bit of extra support. While it might be a young striker – a few players have been linked to taking that crucial third-man role in the striking rotation. However, it is unlikely to be a marquee name due to the fact that both Edouard and Benteke are among the higher earners in the league.

Though expected to be involved in the market, Palace fans will be happy enough to know that their key loan player is not going anywhere. Given his consistent contribution since arriving in South London, losing Gallagher would have been a major blow ahead of the rest of the season.

With Palace looking to secure their Premier League future as soon as possible, it is hoped that the on-loan midfielder can play a key role in making that possible. The fact he is even being linked with a return to Stamford Bridge is proof enough that, for Palace, Gallagher has been one of the steals of the season.