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| Conor Gallagher and Billy Gilmour of Chelsea during a training session at Drake Stadium UCLA Campus on July 12, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. |
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel recognised Conor Gallagher for his 'outstanding work rate' after the Blues' pre season clash in Nevada on Sunday.
They beat Club America 2-1 thanks to goals from Mason Mount and Timo Werner, but it was the 22-year-old midfielder that Tuchel was most impressed by.
'It was a very good start and a good match for him,' the manager said after the game. 'Now it's important he gets used to our principles of the game, to understand when to move and when not to move, and his work rate is outstanding.
'He can be a big asset for us. Conor trains at a really high level. You can clearly see it was the right decision to let him go on loan. He made a huge step in his development at Palace and became an England player.'
Gallagher has been involved with Chelsea since joining the youth side as an eight-year-old, but he has not made a first team appearance for the club since signing his first senior contract in 2018.
The midfielder has instead spent loan spells at Charlton, Swansea, West Brom and Crystal Palace.
His stint at Palace proved particularly successful, as he was named the club's player of the season after a series of promising showings. At the start of December, no one under the age of 21 had more goal contributions than Gallagher.
Now back at his boyhood club, the midfielder is keen to become a regular at Stamford Bridge. He told BBC sport: 'Everyone wants to play as much as they can, but I'm willing to work as hard as I can to be on the pitch as much as possible.'
'There's world-class players in the squad and it's obviously a tough team to get into but I feel like if that challenge is there, I think I'd be a bit silly not to take it.'
Chelsea will get their Premier League campaign underway against Everton on Saturday, August 6.
