Welcome to Spurs, Conor Gallagher!
After 18 months with Atletico Madrid in Spain, the midfielder has returned home to England following his permanent move to north London on Wednesday afternoon.
With 290 senior club appearances and 22 caps to date, the 25-year-old cut his teeth during various loan spells in the Championship and Premier League before establishing himself as a first-team regular and captain in the English top flight with boyhood club Chelsea.
Joining Atleti in August, 2024, becoming only the second Englishman after former Spur Kieran Trippier to do so, the England international departed the Spanish capital with 77 appearances in all competitions and now embarks on a fresh adventure in Lilywhite.
A player very familiar to these shores and who has come up against his new Head Coach on numerous occasions – more on that later – we look at our number 22’s career journey to N17…
Standing out as a relentless, all-action midfielder with leadership and technical qualities, he captained the Under-18s on numerous occasions during their treble-winning season (U18 Premier League, U18 Premier League Cup and FA Youth Cup) the following campaign before stepping up to the Under-21s in 2018/19 at 18 years old.
During that season, Conor began to train regularly with the men’s first team under Maurizio Sarri which ended with a Europa League winner’s medal, having been an unused substitute as Chelsea beat Arsenal in Baku, and scooped the Blues’ academy player of the year accolade.
First steps in senior football
Conor’s senior education accelerated with a Championship loan to Charlton Athletic as a 19-year-old in August, 2019.
Thrust straight into the action with his debut from the bench in a 2-1 win at Blackburn Rovers in the league opener, his first start brought a maiden senior goal in a 3-1 victory over Stoke City and he backed this up with a goal and assist in a 2-2 draw at Barnsley as he nailed down a starting place under Lee Bowyer.
Conor scored five goals in his first two and a half months for the Addicks, including a winning strike in a 1-0 success over Thomas Frank’s Brentford – the start of a saga against our Head Coach – form that earned a maiden England Under-21 call-up in October, and went on to contribute six goals and four assists in his 26 appearances during his five-month spell at The Valley.
Promotion push
A January switch across the Welsh border to join Championship promotion hopefuls Swansea City on loan meant Conor was living away from home for the first time but joined a familiar face in former England Under-17 coach Steve Cooper who was Head Coach in south Wales.
The midfielder picked up where he left off and registered an assist on debut in a 2-1 win over Wigan Athletic and went on to start all 19 league games during his loan spell.
Whilst not scoring for the Swans, he ended the regular season with seven assists as they secured the last play-off place in sixth with a 4-1 victory at Reading on the final day and would face – you guessed it – Thomas’ third-place Brentford in the play-off semi-final, playing every minute across both legs as the Bees prevailed 3-2 on aggregate.
His Premier League debut arrived in a goalless draw against Burnley the following month and then his maiden Premier League goal brought West Brom’s first win of the campaign with the winner against Sheffield United five games later on Matchday 10.
Following this up with a consolation strike against Crystal Palace next time out, his loan side would only win five games all campaign as West Brom were relegated but Conor emerged with significant credit across his 32 appearances – 28 starts – in the top division.
Landing at the Eagles
With a season’s Premier League experience under his belt, Conor’s real breakthrough came on loan at Crystal Palace in 2021/22. From his first start – a goalless draw against none other than Thomas’ Brentford! – he became integral to Palace’s pressing midfield under Patrick Vieira.
He opened his Eagles account with a crucial brace in a 2-2 draw at West Ham on his third appearance, assisted in a 3–0 win against us next time out and bagged in consecutive matches against Manchester City and Wolverhampton Wanderers on Matchday 10 and 11. His display against City, in particular, drew plaudits as he had a hand in both goals with an assist for the opener in their famous 2-0 away win at the reigning champions.
His club form earned a maiden senior England call-up from Gareth Southgate that November and, after representing the Young Lions at every age group from Under-17, he made his international debut as a half-time substitute in a 10–0 win in San Marino that month.
Strides at Stamford Bridge
Conor returned to Chelsea as a genuine first-team option in 2022/23 and, after 15 years on the club’s books, was given his senior debut as a late substitute in a 1–0 win at Everton by then head coach Thomas Tuchel and made his first start at Leeds United two games later.
Tuchel was replaced by Graham Potter on 8 September and the first game of his tenure saw the midfielder make his UEFA Champions League debut off the bench in a 1-1 draw with RB Salzburg and made eight appearances in Europe that term – including a start in the quarter-final second leg against Real Madrid.
In Potter’s first league game in charge away to Crystal Palace on 1 October, the former Eagles loanee was introduced at 1-1 in the final quarter of the contest and opened his Chelsea account with a dramatic 90th-minute winner to defeat his former side at Selhurst Park.
During his maiden season as a first-team regular at the Blues – which brought managerial upheaval that saw Potter dismissed after seven months and, with Bruno Saltor overseeing one match, Frank Lampard return via an interim spell – Conor was part of England’s 2022 World Cup squad, though did not feature in Qatar, and featured 35 times in the Premier League – 45 in total – contributing three goals and an assist.
The following campaign saw his role transform further. He became an established starter and leader under new boss Mauricio Pochettino, captaining Chelsea for the first time at Bournemouth in September on Matchday Five and wore the armband 30 times across all competitions.
Ever-present in the Premier League barring a one-match suspension, Conor was instrumental as a tireless box-to-box midfielder and created 11 big chances in the top flight that term – finishing in the top 10 overall and fourth amongst recognised central midfielders.
He ended the league campaign with five goals and seven assists – also adding two FA Cup strikes, including a 90th-minute winner against Leeds – and started in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley where they narrowly lost to Liverpool in extra time.
Continental chapter
After featuring in England’s run to the UEFA EURO 2024 final, making five appearances including the semi-final win over the Netherlands, Conor departed Chelsea that summer having made 95 senior appearances – registering 10 goals and 10 assists – to join Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid in August.