Gallagher idolises Lampard, won World Cup, a loan star and deserves England spot

The 21-year-old has received his first call-up to Gareth Southgate's England side and it is richly deserved.

The Crystal Palace midfielder, on loan from Chelsea, has been in impressive form for Patrick Vieira's side.

He has scored four goals, and added two assists, in the Premier League this season and was nominated for October player of the month.

Gallagher has been destined for the England side for some time, having worked his way through just about every age group side.

He was part of the Under-17 team who won the World Cup in 2017, alongside the likes of Phil Foden, Emile Smith Rowe and Callum Hudson-Odoi.

"We've been very impressed with him," Southgate said of the 21-year-old.

"We've tracked him for a very long time in his loan spells at Charlton, Swansea - we knew the staff there very well - at West Brom and now at Crystal Palace so in each loan he has done extremely well.

"He was already Covid tested and going from one to the other was straightforward. That's not to say he is only there because of that - he is here because he deserves to be here - but it was an easy transition for us to make.

"He has started the season very well with Palace. We talked about him when we named the original squad as somebody we were keen to keep an eye on and I suppose it's one of the benefits of being with the Under-21s because it was an easy transition for us to bring him across."

Gallagher is a die-hard Chelsea fan, but is yet to make a senior debut for the club.

While the likes of Mason Mount, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Trevoh Chalobah have got their chance in the first team, the midfielder is yet to do so.

He was named academy player of the year in 2019, before being sent out to then-Championship side Charlton for six months.

Gallagher then joined Swansea, before spending the season with West Brom in the Premier League last campaign and now he finds himself at Crystal Palace.

There's plenty to like about the 21-year-old's game and there are shades of Frank Lampard about him - who just so happens to be his idol.

"Frank Lampard is someone I have always looked up to, being a Chelsea fan, it was incredible watching him and the number of goals and assists he got was crazy for a midfielder," Gallagher said earlier this year.

"It is ridiculous with his numbers. I want to be a goalscoring midfielder but there's a lot of work to be done. I got a couple of goals the other day which gave me confidence for sure."

Goals are something he has added to his game and it is being noticed by his parent club - it would hard not to take note by just how well he is doing.

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel said: "It's not hard to follow (his progress) because he is standing out every single match day. It's a pretty easy one to follow.

"Listen, Conor's heart is so, so big. He loves football and you can wake him up at four o'clock at night. He will start running, sprinting and collecting balls, winning duels. This is what he does and you can see he feels good, he has trust from the club and manager.

"Right now, it is the beginning of November. He is a full member of the Crystal Palace squad and it's good where he is. There is no need to change this. We are fully aware of it and are happy he feels so good and is a huge part of this club."

The news that Chelsea will not call him back in January will be a huge boost for Crystal Palace, who may just want to get him permanently.

New Palace boss Patrick Vieira absolutely loves working with the midfielder.

Vieira said: "Working with Conor, it's a joy really because he is a player who wants to fill his potential, he wants to learn and he wants to work hard and he's bringing this energy to the team," the Palace manager said.

"The staff and myself are really enjoying working with him. He comes in every morning with a big smile on his face and is leaving the training ground with a big smile as well.

"When he's on the field he's working hard every single day and he is a player that wants to fulfil his potential and I think that is a really important tool to have as a player, to improve yourself and keep challenging yourself."

Gallagher is clearly someone who challenges himself and likely to take a call-up to the England senior squad into his stride.

He may just have eyes on a place in Southgate's World Cup squad for next year.