Aston Villa transfer target has learned his lesson and proved Sam Allardyce wrong

Conor Gallagher has 'gone on a lot quicker' than Sam Allardyce thought he would - to the point where the £50m rated midfielder is now of interest to Aston Villa. Gallagher's reward for an excellent campaign for Chelsea, who he often captained last season, is going to Euro 2024 with England after being selected in Gareth Southgate's 26-man squad.

The next few weeks, especially once the transfer window opens later this week, will hold the key to Gallagher's future. So many clubs, including Villa and Chelsea, are having to prepare to tread carefully when they look to strengthen their squads this summer because of the stringent FFP rules, but an academy product like Gallagher then becomes an attractive proposition for a sale - despite how crucial he was under Mauricio Pochettino.

Villa and Tottenham Hotspur are both understood to have an interest in Gallagher, who scored a couple of goals last season against the Villans at Villa Park in the Premier League and the FA Cup. Unai Emery, set to secure a deal for Ross Barkley from Luton Town, is believed to be a fan of Gallagher and the prospect of him enhancing Villa's midfield department ahead of their Champions League adventure.

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Allardyce, who managed Gallagher for a short period when the Chelsea star was on loan at West Bromwich Albion, is impressed by how he has developed in a relatively short space of time; after spells with Charlton and Swansea, Gallagher made 32 appearances for the Baggies in a side which was relegated back to the Championship after a single season.

Having had that experience, Allardyce has watched keenly to see Gallagher has progressed - and despite the enormous recruiting drive encircling him at Stamford Bridge, he has continued to remain a constant in the side.

"The best thing that happened to Conor was that year at West Brom, thinking 'I don't want to go through this again'," Allardyce told BirminghamLive earlier this year. "That experience...he has gone on a lot quicker than I thought he would. He's jumped ahead of the queue of where I thought he was.

"That year was a disaster, in terms of there's nothing worse than losing more games than you win, and waking up on a Sunday morning and you've lost again, as a player, coach or manager. As a youngster, it can give you a big 'I must do better - I'm not going to fail, I'm going to succeed'.

"He went to Palace after that, had another year learning, and then ended up getting the odd England call-up. Now, it looks like, even with Chelsea spending about a billion pounds, that he's still very much at the front-line. Full marks to him. The one thing he hasn't learned...he's still f****** diving in! I'm still watching him and I'm thinking 'that's another yellow card'."

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