Chelsea’s Thomas Tuchel shows ruthless side by making Conor Gallagher FA Cup decision



Chelsea and Thomas Tuchel have reportedly rejected Crystal Palace’s request to allow loanee Conor Gallagher to feature in the FA Cup semi-final next weekend in what will be a blow to the midfielder, who would have been looking forward to making another Wembley appearance.

Gallagher, 22, has made a wonderful impact in south London since making the temporary switch at the start of 2021/22. His latest masterclass against Arsenal demonstrated his importance once again to Patrick Vieira’s sides success this term. The hope for all in Croydon was that his parent club Chelsea would be kind to them ahead of the FA Cup semi-final next weekend but that is not to be.

This is because as Goal have exclusively revealed, the Blues have made the decision to prevent their loan star potentially knock them out of a competition that they haven’t won since Antonio Conte’s swansong season in west London.

Gallagher himself was reportedly not involved at all during these talks as it seems conversations were held between representatives of each club’s with the Eagles understandably disappointed by the final decision of Tuchel and co., with an alteration required to the terms of his loan deal to allow him to play against his parent club.

READ MORE: Thomas Tuchel’s message for Arsenal and Spurs following Chelsea meeting ahead of Southampton

Palace manager Vieira had hoped that a positive resolution could be solved. “It’s not the best rule because the only one who will lose is Conor, because there’s a semi-final, it’s a really exciting game about how you will manage yourself and prepare yourself to play that game, playing that kind of game, the importance of it, it’s an experience the player is missing and I’m disappointed for him,” he said in his most recent press conference.

“He has played all the games so far and if there’s somebody who deserves to be in the semi-final, it’s him because of his performances as well. So I’m disappointed he won’t be able to play.” The Frenchman then went on to add regarding the friends conundrum that Gallagher could have experienced if he was to have been granted permission: “No. And I think the decision for Chelsea to send him on loan is to play these kind of games.

“We have as a group an opportunity to play an important game and that game will give him more confidence and belief. We could lose but for him to be on the field is what he needs to keep developing himself. Since he has been with us, he has been fantastic and for him not to have a chance to get involved in that game, it is something frustrating for his development. I feel for him because he will want to play in that game — every player would want to play in that game.”





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