Conor Gallagher picks up possession about 23 yards from out, shifts the ball onto his right foot and bends a wonderful, curling shot right into the top corner of Jordan Pickford’s net.
But it was his other goal, late in the first half during Crystal Palace’s 3-1 victory over Everton in December, that truly marked the Chelsea loanee out as one of the most promising young players in the whole of the Premier League.
But Gallagher’s first of the afternoon was the sort of instinctive poacher’s finish that natural-born goalscoring midfielders can build an entire career upon.
Finding a pocket of space in a crowded penalty area before slotting home with laser-like precision. Frank Lampard would have been proud.
“Conor has this passion for the game when he is on the field like a Ray Parlour. But I would say he has maybe the quality finishing of a Lampard,” Palace boss Patrick Vieira said of the three-time England international a couple of months ago.
“It is a manager’s dream to have a player like Conor because when he is on the field, he will give everything.”
Everton want Conor Gallagher from Chelsea
The former Charlton, Swansea and West Brom loanee has made no secret of his admiration for ‘idol’ Lampard.
So the prospect of working under the Chelsea legend at Goodison Park – talkSPORT say Lampard is confident his Stamford Bridge connections can open the door for Gallagher to join Everton on loan next season – will undoubtedly appeal to the Epsom-born dynamo.
Only two midfielders have hit double figures for Everton in the Premier League over the last ten years. Gylfi Sigurdsson (2017/18) and Marouane Fellaini (12/13). Neither proved to be particularly prolific, however, over a longer stretch of time.
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In fact, the Toffees haven’t really had a truly reliable, consistent goalscoring midfielder since the heady days of Gwladys Street icon Tim Cahill.
And while Gallagher lacks Cahill’s aerial presence – he’s yet to score a single header in his senior career – he does possess the Australian’s knack of popping up in exactly the right place, at exactly the right time.
Everton found that out the hard way six months ago.
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