Journalist Tom Barclay thinks that Ross Barkley managing to get game time at Chelsea shows that Conor Gallagher can force his way into the club's plans in the future.

Gallagher is currently on loan at Crystal Palace until the end of the campaign, and has made a very positive impression at Selhurst Park.

How have Gallagher and Barkley fared this season?

After being unavailable for the opening game of the season, Gallagher has started each of Palace's last 10 top-flight games. 

He scored a brace in his first away game for the Eagles at West Ham, and has since scored against Manchester City and Wolves to take his tally to four goals for Patrick Vieira's men.

Barkley has found minutes on the pitch harder to come by, as he failed to feature in Chelsea's first six league matches this term.

He has had somewhat of a resurgence in recent weeks, though, playing in four of the Blues' last five fixtures, which included a start at home to Burnley.

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What has Barclay said about Gallagher and Barkley?

Thomas Tuchel seems to have found a role for Barkley over the past month, and Barclay believes this demonstrates that Gallagher could have a future at Stamford Bridge when his loan spell at Palace ends.

When asked how Gallagher could fit into Chelsea's system, Barclay told GIVEMESPORT: “Particularly the way that Thomas Tuchel is playing at the moment, two pressing midfielders playing behind the striker. Barkley getting a run out suggests there should be a definite space for someone like Gallagher to make his claim there, but he’s just playing better and better.”

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How does Gallagher compare to Chelsea's current attacking midfielders?

If Gallagher is to succeed at Chelsea, it seems that his best chance to get regular football would be playing as one of the two attacking midfielders in Tuchel's preferred 3-4-2-1 formation.

The Premier League outfit have a number of options in these positions, such as Mason Mount, Kai Havertz, Hakim Ziyech and Christian Pulisic. 

These are four high-quality internationals, but it is interesting that none of them have managed to score as many goals as Gallagher in the Premier League this season, while only Mount can match his number of assists (2). 

Chelsea have very few weaknesses, but Tuchel may want to start getting more goals from his attacking midfielders to take the burden off the likes of Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner.

Gallagher could help with this problem, as he has shown over the last few months that he has a knack of arriving in the box at the right time and putting the ball in the back of the net. 

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