Asked about whether he believes Gallagher should be handed a new contract recently, the ex-Southampton boss said: “It is a decision between the player and the club, to be or not to be. He is in the starting XI nearly every game and one of the captains. For me, he is the type of player that the club need to have.
“He is important because of his Chelsea values. He came from the academy, he loves the club and he is very committed. You can see that on the pitch — he runs, he plays, he fights. He does everything to win. He is a really important player that the coaching staff want to have on the team.”
Pochettino’s admission that he would like Gallagher to stay at the club left no room for misinterpretation, though the higher powers at Chelsea do not appear to have got the message at present. If the midfielder is offloaded in January then it remains to be seen how the Blues’ hierarchy keep their manager happy with new signings.
