“Deserves” – Patrick Viera baffled by Chelsea decision ahead of FA Cup semi-final

Patrick Viera is baffled by Chelsea’s decision on Conor Gallagher

Speaking in an interview as quoted by the Mirror, Patrick Viera is baffled by Chelsea’s decision to not let Conor Gallagher play for Crystal Palace in the FA Cup semi-final later this month.

The 22-year-old is out on loan at Crystal Palace from the Blues this season. The Chelsea youth academy star is performing exceedingly well in the Premier League at Selhurst Park, scoring eight goals and creating five in 31 matches this season.

The English sensation is one of the biggest prospects in English football and continues to put in one high octane performance after the other for Crystal Palace. Gallagher has the potential to develop into a top-class player and it is in Chelsea’s interests to keep him on for the future.

The midfielder has a clause in his loan deal that does not allow him to play against his parent club. With Crystal Palace set to take on Chelsea in the semi-finals of the FA Cup next week, the Eagles requested special permission to allow the talented midfielder to take part in the game against the Blues; however, they have seen their request rebuffed.

Speaking about the refusal by the London based club, Palace boss Patrick Viera said he was baffled by Chelsea’s decision. The Frenchman believes that the Blues loanee deserves to play in the showpiece event given the role he has played for Palace this season.

“It’s not the best rule because the only one who will lose is Conor. There’s a semi-final, it’s a really exciting game about how you will manage yourself and prepare yourself to play that game, then there’s playing that kind of game and the importance of it. It’s an experience the player is missing and I’m disappointed for him. He has played all the games so far and if there’s somebody who deserves to be in the semi-final, it’s him because of his performances, so I’m disappointed he won’t be able to play.”

Chelsea right in their stance?

If he had been allowed to play, the semi-final FA Cup clash against his parent club would have been Gallagher’s biggest game to date. However, the Blues have not granted him that honour.

Whilst the English midfielder might still be a Chelsea player out on loan, the Blues’ priority is to win the game against Palace and progress to the finals and they are not going to do their opponents any favour.

We have seen time and again how influential Gallagher could be to Chelsea and it comes as no surprise that the Blues don’t want to take a chance. Patrick Viera’s side will feel hard done by, not having arguably their best player for the most important game of their season.

It was a clause that was inserted into his initial loan deal and there is not much Crystal Palace can do about it. Chelsea should be grateful to the Eagles to a certain extent given that they are the ones providing Gallagher with a launchpad to succeed.

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However, that doesn’t mean we risk winning a trophy because of that. Palace’s 3-0 win against Arsenal recently shows they are no walkovers. With or without Gallagher, the Blues would have to do well to get the better of their London rivals and make the FA Cup final- where they will face either Liverpool or Manchester City.