Big Sam tells Conor Gallagher to ignore Chelsea return and remain at West Brom next season
Sam Allardyce has told Conor Gallagher to stick with West Brom next season and drop any interest in a return to Chelsea.
The 21-year-old is nearing the end of his season-long loan in the West Midlands and with Albion destined for the Premier League drop an extension to his Hawthorns stay seems highly unlikely.
Even in light of an unexpected revival, the West London side will surely be looking to send him out to a top-10 club to advance his development.
But Big Sam still retains faith as he laid out the path for Gallagher’s near future in his pre-Chelsea press conference, in quotes reported on the Mirror website.
“If we stay in the Premier League I’d hope he is here next season not at Chelsea,” he said.
“He’d be better off having another season with us rather than the competitive size of the Chelsea squad.”
Distant dream
We’re not sure Gallagher or Chelsea would agree with this.
After spending the first-half of last season on loan at Championship strugglers Charlton Athletic Gallagher was pulled away from the Addicks and sent to Swansea City who were battling for promotion.
He passed both of those tests and the Blues then saw the next stage of his development as being in the Premier League.
Albion were the lucky recipients of his services and he has been a revelation on loan as one of the only players to emerge with any credit this season.
He is probably battling Sam Johnstone for Player of the Year and that is testament to the impact he has made despite having to spend the beginning of the season next to Jake Livermore and Romaine Sawyers in the middle of midfield.
But even if we do achieve the unthinkable and retain our Premier League status, Chelsea will surely be looking to place Gallagher in a team with more ambition than ours. He wouldn’t look out of place in many sides at the top.
That’s even if they decide to dispense with his services for another year – he might well form a squad option for them next year.
We’re not sure why Big Sam is placing pressure on Gallagher already with his own future likely to be the subject of intense scrutiny at the end of the season.
Of course we’d all like to see the England U21 star remain at The Hawthorns but we’re already resigned to his departure- don’t make it more difficult for us, Big Sam.
In other West Brom news, our editor answers key fan questions on Guochuan Lai’s future as Albion owner.
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