Chelsea warned over repeat of same "bad choice" Jesse Lingard made at Man Utd

Conor Gallagher has been warned that returning to Chelsea after his loan with Crystal Palace could prove to be a "bad choice."

Sam Allardyce, who managed the Blues starlet at West Bromwich Albion last season, thinks Gallagher should keep his options open in order to avoid Jesse Lingard's unwanted predicament at Manchester United.

Like Lingard did with West Ham United last term, Gallagher is enjoying a superb loan spell with Palace but returning to his parent club is no guarantee of improvement despite the obvious attraction of becoming a star at Stamford Bridge.

The 21-year-old scored twice as the Eagles beat Everton on Sunday, with the expectation being that Gallagher will return to Chelsea at the end of the season to try and stake his claim under Thomas Tuchel.

But Allardyce has warned that the youngster could "go backwards" with the Blues while discussing Gallagher's future on talkSPORT.

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"I wouldn't spend too long there if I don't get into the first team," the former England boss stated.

"I'd want to come back and give it a go and I think on his form at the moment and you have to bear in mind now he made his England debut, he's an England international.

"He would want to go back and try and get in the team but I think if you do that, you've got to play enough first team games because if you don't you can easily fall backwards like Jesse Lingard.

"Staying at Man United I think has been a bad choice for him because he's not been selected," Allardyce added, with Lingard's return to Old Trafford not playing out as he would have hoped.

"While at West Ham he was one of the best goalscoring midfield players in the Premier League in his time there now he's sitting on the bench at Man United.

"So you have to be very careful on your choices at the right time and if you're playing as much football as Conor's playing now, and enjoying it more than ever with Palace then you want to continue that.

"If that's not at Chelsea it can certainly be somewhere else in the Premier League I'm sure."

As for Gallagher himself, who the decision will ultimately be down to, he appears to be loving life playing in south London.

"The last goal - that feeling is incredible," the on-loan midfielder said to Sky Sports post-match on Sunday. "I love it.

"[The Palace fans] just singing my name right now is a great feeling for me. They give me confidence which is amazing for a player."

Palace manager Patrick Vieira described Gallagher "humble" following the 3-1 win, declaring: "He wants to improve - he's really humble and working hard,' the Palace head coach told reporters shortly after his side's victory.

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"The challenge for him is to maintain that level to fulfil his expectation."

Vieira added: "Today, he was fantastic, and when the team plays at that level, it allows him and some of the players to express themselves.

"We have to keep challenging him, we have to keep working with him to keep improving, but he can score goals.

"We as a team have to play to a style that allows those types of players to score and take their chances."