“I’m not surprised at all” - Patrick Vieira hails 'humble' Chelsea loanee Conor Gallagher’s impressive showing against Everton

Patrick Vieira has revealed he is not surprised by Chelsea loanee Conor Gallagher's form at Crystal Palace. The French manager claims the youngster is working hard and creating chances in every game.

Thomas Tuchel was keen on keeping Gallagher at Chelsea this season but decided to loan him out for a chance to play every week. The move seems to be successful for all parties involved as the midfielder has been shining for Crystal Palace this season.

Heaping praise for Gallagher after his two goals against Everton on Sunday night, Vieira claimed the Chelsea loanee remained humble despite his talent. The Palace manager wants him to continue his run of form and elaborated on Gallagher's progress:

"I am not surprised at all and Conor is not the kind of person who will be too busy. He wants to improve, he is really humble, is working hard and the challenge for him is to maintain that level to fulfil his expectation. Today he was fantastic and I think when the team play at that level as well, it allows him and some of the players in the team to express themselves."

"I don't know if I should put a number or not but if you look at the number of chances he is creating in the game and the number of chances the team are creating, his timing to get inside the box is always good and he can finish. We have to keep challenging him, keep working with him to keep improving but he can score so we as a team have to play to allow those type of players who have the quality to score to take their chances."

Conor Gallagher targets Chelsea return

Conor Gallagher has insisted he is not looking to leave Chelsea any time soon and wants to use this loan spell to earn his place at Stamford Bridge.

The Palace loanee told Rio Ferdinand to specify his intentions of doing well at Chelsea, and Sidwell revealed:

"I remember Rio (Ferdinand) telling me he had done an interview with him, not long ago. He said to Rio, afterwards for TV, 'make sure when you speak about me, make sure I stated that I want to go back to Chelsea. I'm not here just in the shop window doing this to get a move. I'm doing this to show everyone what I can do when I get back to Chelsea.'"

Chelsea are looking to sell Ross Barkley and send Saul Niguez back to Atletico Madrid after his loan spell is over. Gallagher is expected to be back at Stamford Bridge next season to compete for a place in the team.