CONOR GALLAGHER aims to be the beating heart in Tottenham’s new-look midfield.
But what some fans may not be aware of is that the England man had to have surgery on his ticker aged 18 to correct an irregular beat.
Spurs’ marquee January signing has now opened up on the experience, along with his struggles with a knee condition as a teenager, in an illuminating piece with the FA.
Telling his football origin story in the first person for an article aimed at inspiring kids, Gallagher explained how his heart issue cropped up on international duty.
It came in 2018 with England’s Under-19s, a year on from winning the Under-17 World Cup in India alongside the likes of Phil Foden and best pal Marc Guehi.
The former Chelsea star, 26, divulged: “I was 18 at the time and we were in Finland for the Euro Finals.
“One day during training I just felt my heart beating really fast for no apparent reason.
“I noticed it, but didn’t think anything of it, so I carried on and I remember playing a game the day after, when we faced France and it was a game we needed to win.
“I still remember the game, they were a strong team, really quick, great with the ball and we struggled and got beat 5-0.
“I got through the game though and luckily enough nothing bad happened.
CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS
“But it was when I came back to Chelsea for pre-season and in the first session back I joined the group of players who were going to be going out on loan that season when I felt dizzy and that’s when I knew there was something wrong.
“I went to the doctor and once they did all the heart checks, they realised the problem and I had minor heart surgery which basically saw them trigger my heart back to beating normally.
“Since then I’ve had no problems and hopefully I won’t again, but I was very grateful.”
Gallagher also spoke about growing up with three football-mad older brothers, often having to play in goal when they played games in the back garden.
He explained how surprised he was by eldest sibling Dan’s quality when facing his Aldershot in pre-season with Chelsea, when Conor was still only 17.
That was after Gallagher had overcome his issues with Osgood-Schlatter disease, a common source of knee pain in active adolescents.
Many players struggled with it during their teenage years, including Gallagher’s former Under-21s colleague Jarrad Branthwaite.
It can severely limit a youngster’s progress as some can struggle to run with it, let alone train.
Gallagher revealed his nervousness at the time that it may affect his career, given how team-mates were being offered scholarships while he was forced to wait.
The £35million signing from Atletico Madrid added: “I started to have problems with my knees as I was growing up and at times, I was really struggling to run which is quite a blow when you want to be a midfielder as I always have.
“I’ve since learned that it’s actually a common issue that a lot of young people have growing up, called Osgood-Schlatter disease.
“I had it quite severely for a few years and it really affected my football at the time
“I couldn’t run or sprint properly, which means you won’t be as effective in games, but Chelsea were brilliant, they really believed in me and I was able to come back stronger.
“I had to change my position a little bit in games, I moved out from the middle to the right where I didn’t need to be as athletic, but eventually I grew through it and I was able to kick-on.
“I was concerned at the time though, because a lot of the boys were being offered scholarships and pro deals so I was nervous for obvious reasons.
“I was eventually offered a scholarship, while all the other boys got a pro deal, so I was at the back of the pecking order at that stage and had a lot of work to do and that was what I did.”