While I don't think Gallagher is coming back, I don't agree that it was never on. I think there are reasons why it might have happened and there's probably still a very slim chance that it could.

First, Conor has been given plenty of opportunities to make a Chelsea shirt his own this season and if we're honest, he hasn't made the impact he'd have liked to. The simple fact that Chelsea is desperately trying to sign additional midfielders right now tells you that.

Second, presently, Chelsea is in a flux. They're in the process of a sweeping squad turnover, deciding who they want to keep and who they don't. Part of the decision-making has been giving players like Gallagher plenty of playing time in the first half of this season, to weed out who to keep and who to let go. To me, there's not much evidence now that Conor is likely in the "central to our future plans" column. Rather, Chelsea may have reached the conclusion that they've seen enough and are happy to let him go.

Third, no doubt Conor wants to have a future at Chelsea but if the points above are right (and they might be), it's not his choice. If Potter tells him "look, I'm happy to move you on and if you stay you're going to have a marginal role in my squad" then it's quite likely he'll accept a move. Most players won't sacrifice their careers, even if it means leaving their boyhood club. Of course, he could say "no, I'm not going anywhere. I'll stay and fight for a place" but really, once a boss has told you he doesn't want you, the writing is on the wall. So a lot of this boils down to whether Potter believes Conor is integral to what he wants to do at Chelsea. Looking at the sort of players Potter has traditionally built sides around, I'm not sure Conor fits the profile.

Four, for the most part, all of us are pragmatic. When our dreams don't pan out, we replace them with new dreams. It's the nature of the human beast. Conor may even conclude that the best way to build a future at Chelsea is to go somewhere like Palace and rip up trees for a couple of seasons. He'll get far more chances to make an impression at Chelsea (as was the case last season) starting every week for Vieira than he will sitting at the far end of Graham Potter's bench. He may be reluctant to accept that, but if he's given no choice...

So there are reasons, and good ones too, why he might yet leave Chelsea and join another club. I think what Conor wants is relatively unimportant in this debate. It boils down to what Graham Potter wants because, Chelsea being Chelsea, that's what the club is likely to get.

Time to give up on Gallagher now i think, No harm either [Link]

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I'm not so sure Newcastle is in play. For one thing, they appear to be actively pursuing Anthony Gordon and I can't imagine they'd sign both him and Gallagher. It'd be either/or. And for another, they're already stretching FFP rules. They may have money, but there's a limit to what they can spend.