Football agent Rob Segal has slammed Chelsea’s decision to not allow Conor Gallagher to play against them whilst on loan at Crystal Palace.
Gallagher has been thriving at Crystal Palace this season after Chelsea let him leave the club on loan for the season. The two clubs faced each other at the weekend in the FA Cup semi-final, and Chelsea refused to allow Gallagher to play in the game.
Segal was disappointed in Chelsea’s decision to not allow Gallagher to experience a huge game at Wembley, especially as he’s one of the key reasons Crystal Palace got to that stage in the first place.
“However, I think it’s diabolical that Conor Gallagher couldn’t play for Crystal Palace against Chelsea in last weekend’s semi-final. It’s okay for them to ask for a loan fee because they’ve made a business out of loaning their players, but here we are, they’ve loaned this player out who has done really well, Crystal Palace is lumbered with his wages every week and their most recent fixture was an FA Cup tie – it’s not like it was a title decider,” said Segal, speaking exclusively to Caught Offside.
Of course, the game is huge for Chelsea’s efforts to win a trophy this season, but they should be able to beat Palace regardless of whether Gallagher played or not. If Crystal Palace are paying his wages, helping his development, and Gallagher played a huge part in getting them to Wembley, he should be able to play.
“Why not let him play? – What harm would it do? If they didn’t rate him enough to keep him, what were they worried about? – For him to play at Wembley on that occasion would only have given him more experience if Chelsea does decide to keep hold of him next season. It’s just another flaw in these silly regulations,” added Segal.
The most powerful point is that Chelsea didn’t believe he was good enough to be part of the squad. Gallagher was sent out on loan as he wasn’t a player they believe they needed, so they shouldn’t stop a player from experiencing a massive game at Wembley that he deserves to play in.
Gallagher has now missed out on playing a game which he has earnt the opportunity to play in, and I imagine his feelings towards Chelsea over this decision aren’t positive.
If the 22-year-old holds a grudge over this decision, it may affect whether he decides to stay at Chelsea when his loan at Crystal Palace ends.