Two years to the day after last stepping on the pitch at Stamford Bridge, Conor Gallagher will return to his boyhood club on Tuesday in circumstances nobody could have envisaged when he left.
Having started 37 of Chelsea’s 38 league matches in his final season, Gallagher, now 26, was effectively forced out of the club he played for from the age of six after refusing to sign a short-term contract. Gallagher was sold to Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2024 for €42 million (£35.8m, $54.7m at the time), with Chelsea seeking pure profit from his sale to help their position regarding profit and sustainability regulations.
Now, after a trail of events that seem almost inconceivable, he will be back as a Tottenham Hotspur player, fighting to keep Chelsea’s fiercest rival in the Premier League. Just two seasons ago, Gallagher was the beating heart of Mauricio Pochettino’s team for his single term in the Chelsea dugout, captaining Chelsea 30 times in all competitions and displaying his versatility across four positions in midfield.
For his performances and for what it meant for Chelsea fans to have another “one of their own” wearing the armband in the absence of captain Reece James, Pochettino described Gallagher as “priceless” and “a player with a great commitment to the team” at the time. Roberto De Zerbi, who said, “I want to see again the same Gallagher I loved in (his time at) Chelsea”, pushed him to return to the level he played at in his final season at Stamford Bridge, and is undoubtedly hoping to see that player again in this high-stakes derby.
“The gaffer has been brilliant with us,” Gallagher said of De Zerbi in the mixed zone after scoring the opening goal of Tottenham’s 2-1 win at Aston Villa on May 3. ”He’s brought the team together. He’s really worked on players individually with one-to-one meetings and one-to-one chats, trying to get that belief and confidence back in the players. He’s done that with me, and it’s made a big difference.
“He just reminds me of when I was at my best. He said that second season at Chelsea, when I had a really good season, he just reminded me of that player. He wants me to be like that again and not to forget how good I can be. He’s done that with a lot of the lads. It’s as simple as that, just trying to remind us of what we were when we were at our best.”
In the 2023-24 season, Gallagher’s best yet, he became a crucial part of Pochettino’s side, playing alongside Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez. Whether he played alongside Caicedo in a double pivot, ahead of the Ecuadorian as a No 8 in a midfield three, or behind the striker as a No 10, Gallagher consistently influenced matches as a front-line defender, playmaker and goalscorer.
Gallagher grew up idolising Frank Lampard, and his ability to time his runs to finish from midfield, like the England and Chelsea legend, was evident in his final season at Stamford Bridge. Gallagher netted seven times in 50 matches across all competitions that term, including a double against Crystal Palace, where he scored eight goals on loan in the 2021-22 season.
Here’s the first of those two goals for Chelsea against Palace in February 2024.
In this instance, Gallagher exercises patience and discipline, waiting for space to open up on the edge of the box, using his team-mates’ forward runs to create that space for himself, allowing team-mate Malo Gusto to find him in the box with yards of space. Gusto’s cross is slightly awkward to deal with for Gallagher, who has to take his finish on the bounce, but Gallagher controls it well, finding the power and direction to finish past Dean Henderson in the Palace goal.
Here’s his second that day, again waiting for the Chelsea attack to progress down the wing before finding space on the edge of the box and placing his shot into the corner.
With two forward-minded full-backs on either flank in Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie, Gallagher’s ability to attack the box intelligently from midfield could be an effective route to goal against Chelsea, who had issues with tracking deep runs in recent defeats to Manchester City and Brighton & Hove Albion.
He’s not just someone who can provide the final action, though. This clip, where he receives a pass under pressure from Fernandez, spins past a tackle, and finishes past goalkeeper Illan Meslier in Chelsea’s 3-2 FA Cup win over Leeds United, also in February 2024, is an example of his quality in tight spaces.
Gallagher scored his first goal for Spurs against Villa, a powerful strike on the volley from outside the box that inspired Tottenham’s best performance since their 2-0 win against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium in August. But it was Gallagher’s ability to affect the game in every area, as he often did for Chelsea in his final season, that drew praise from De Zerbi.
“When Gallagher plays like this, we play with 12 players,” De Zerbi said, after Gallagher’s man-of-the-match display at Villa Park. “You can find him as a striker, as a midfielder, as a full-back, everywhere on the pitch you can find him.”
It’s a level he has spent the last two years trying to get back to. While he endeared himself to Atletico Madrid fans with his work rate and versatility, earning the nickname “pitbull” almost immediately upon signing, Gallagher failed to nail down a place in Diego Simeone’s starting line-up, frequently coming off the bench as a utility man. Then, after returning to the Premier League in January for €40million (£34.7m; $46.6m at the time), Gallagher found himself in and out of the side under Thomas Frank and Igor Tudor, as Spurs sank closer to the relegation zone. But under De Zerbi, Gallagher feels “wanted” again, something he told The Athletic in 2024 inspired his move to Atletico, after a prolonged transfer saga.
Against Villa, Gallagher led all players in defensive contributions, registering 11 in total. In many ways, it was the closest he has come to reaching the standard he consistently displayed in his final season for Chelsea since leaving west London, delivering a dominant all-action midfield performance.
Here’s an example of Gallagher winning the ball from Kobbie Mainoo, one of his England team-mates at Euro 2024.
With Mainoo blind to Gallagher’s position, Gallagher closes the space and nips the ball away from the Manchester United man, before moving the ball quickly to Nicolas Jackson and starting a counter-attack.
Here’s Gallagher doing something very similar in Tottenham’s 1-1 draw with Leeds on Monday, combining with Joao Palhinha to pressure Ao Tanaka.
In a short time under De Zerbi, Gallagher has proven he can be part of a strong pressing unit, with the tackle on Tanaka a good example of how he and his midfield team-mates can work together to win possession. But Gallagher, as reflected by the “pitbull” nickname, can be a one-person pressing machine if given the licence to charge down opposition players, as shown here.
And when he wins it, Gallagher was typically useful in possession at Chelsea. He made nine assists in his final season at Stamford Bridge, including two against Spurs, one of which came during a stretch in which he assisted four goals in five matches. And he could, and probably should, have had more.
Here’s one sequence leading to an excellent chance for Nicolas Jackson, who places his shot wide.
And another, where a delicately chipped cross, finding Fernandez in space at the far post, deserved a better finish.
This version of Gallagher, one who can create, defend, score goals and lead a team as a motivator and example, was a standout in the Premier League and a regular England international.
Starting at Stamford Bridge, it’s also the player De Zerbi is calling on to make the difference for the final two games of the season.