Conor Gallagher has insisted he is enjoying increased competition for places in midfield at Chelsea this season.
The England international was heavily linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge this summer, with 90min reporting in August that Chelsea were open to selling the midfielder if an offer of around £50m came through.
Despite interest from Tottenham Hotspur, Bayern Munich, Brighton and Hove Albion, Newcastle United and West Ham United, there were no transfers and Gallagher stayed put.
Since then, despite the big-money signings of Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia over the summer, Gallagher has become a key player under new manager Mauricio Pochettino. He has started all nine of Chelsea’s Premier League games so far and even captained the side on occasion.
Gallagher captained the side again on Saturday and produced a very impressive performance in a 2-2 draw with London rivals Arsenal.
The midfielder has impressed / MB Media/GettyImages
Speaking to the Evening Standard after the game, Gallagher was asked if he is enjoying the extra competition for a place at Chelsea this season.
He said: “Yes, I love it. I think most of the time in my career I’ve had a point to prove and I love the challenge and I always want to set myself new challenges and goals, so I just want to continue what I’m doing now and help Chelsea climb the table.
“The manager picks his team and we have a good relationship, he understands my game, he understands what I bring to the team and now I think it’s really working, so hopefully we can only get better.”
“It’s very important to have that fighting spirit as well and I think I try to bring that to the team. I always work as hard as I can and I try to rub that on the other players as well.
“You could see that because everyone gave it their all, everyone was great in terms of work ethic and that’s something we’ll need going forward along with all the qualities of the players as well.”
With captain Reece James and vice-captain Ben Chilwell sidelined, Gallagher is set to continue as club captain for their upcoming clash with Brentford on Saturday.
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