Wilfried Zaha has praised the impact Conor Gallagher has already had on Crystal Palace and backs the Chelsea midfielder to become a ’top player’ In the future.
Gallagher, who spent last campaign at relegated West Brom, joined Palace during the summer in a bid to gain more Premier League experience and has impressed in his first few weeks at the club.
The 21-year-old already has two league goals in four matches so far this season, with both coming in the 2-2 draw against West Ham last month.
Zaha believes that the England star has already improved Palace, but believes he can only get even better in the coming years.
‘He’s a very good player to be honest, the thing he brings is that energy that we need, I’m sure everyone has seen it,’ Zaha told TalkSPORT.
‘Having Macca [James McArthur] next to him as well, he runs around as well. Obviously its been a couple of games but everyone can see Conor’s potential because he’s young, so he’s only going to get better.
‘Having him in the team has improved the team massively because the energy makes a huge difference, he will be a top player, not everyone can go from box-to-box the whole game, so yeah, it makes a huge difference.’
Meanwhile, Palace manager Patrick Viera has played down calls for Gallagher to get a call up for the England national team after his superb start to the new campaign, urging him to focus on his club form.
‘This is the biggest problem in our world, when we have one or two performances, we always think that he deserves a national call and I still believe that he needs to be more consistent in his performance,’ said the Frenchman.
‘I think he has abilities but I believe, as well, it is too early for the call for him.
‘He still has to improve but all the credit to Chelsea because he’s not just a really good footballer, he’s a good human being and he’s a really good person as well.
‘We’ve been working with him and talking with him and I think his time will come.’
