Thomas Tuchel urges Conor Gallagher to concentrate on West Brom ‘mission’
Thomas Tuchel has urged Conor Gallagher to focus on his survival mission at West Brom before thinking about his Chelsea future.
Gallagher, 21, is in the midst of a season-long loan deal from Chelsea and he has impressed in the Albion midfield despite their struggles at the foot of the Premier League table.
The sides go head-to-head at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, though Gallagher will be ineligible to feature against his parent club, and Tuchel has told him to concentrate on the task at hand rather than think about his future at Chelsea.
“It is not the moment to take decisions now for Conor but I am very aware that he is still our player,” he told the Chelsea club website.
“The momentum now is that we have crucial weeks ahead of us, and for him and his mission at West Brom also.
“So he fought his way through as a loan player which is very impressive and he never stops improving.
“He is a very regular player for West Brom and I wish that he can stay totally focused on that and when it is the moment and the situation to decide, we will decide – but it is clearly not now.”
Wise words
This is a great bit of management from Tuchel and it is rather refreshing.
Often managers can be accused of looking ahead to next season and disregarding other clubs around them.
With Gallagher’s time in the West Midlands starting to wind down amid an inevitable relegation for West Brom, Tuchel could perhaps be forgiven for debating his status at Chelsea next season.
But he has issued his player with a stark reminder that his most important responsibilities lie in the here and now at Albion.
Perhaps our own boss could learn a thing or two about that.
Big Sam recently told Gallagher to stick with West Brom next season [Mirror] and forget a Blues return – we’re not sure how helpful this is.
The best instruction would have been to tell him to play to his maximum until the end and see what comes off the back of it, rather than limiting his ambitions.
In other West Brom news, Mark Lawrenson predicts Albion v Chelsea clash, adds to staggering Lawro stat.
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