Henry Winter on Conor Gallagher: “I think he's an absolutely inspired signing” | OneFootball

Henry Winter, 40 years at the top of the football writing game at the Independent, Daily Telegraph, The Times and now World Soccer, covering England at numerous major tournaments, gives his opinion on a player he’s tracked since his breakthrough in 2019 - our new signing and England international midfielder, Conor Gallagher.

You’ve watched him throughout his career, Henry - what will Conor bring to Spurs?

Henry: “You are getting energy, commitment, loyalty, passion, responsibility. He's a captain. I know you won’t want to go into Chelsea too much, but you would have seen when he left Chelsea, they put up a big tifo for him (it was actually against us!) – what’s very interesting is that when they did that tifo, they did it with the captain's armband on. He is a leader. He's vocal. I think he's returning a better player because he's played under Diego Simeone at Atletico Madrid. Simeone used him occasionally on the left, but he's very versatile. For instance, he came on twice for Trent Alexander-Arnold at the Euros.”

‘A pressing machine’

Henry: “You're going to get a pressing machine who is box to box. He's an eight. He can sit deep, but he can absolutely burn forward. Frank Lampard and Patrick Vieira were his idols growing up. He obviously then played under Patrick (on loan, 2021/22) at Crystal Palace. What's really interesting, of all the four loans he's had - Charlton Swansea, West Brom and Palace - he left them all on really good terms with them pleading with their owners, particularly Parish at Palace, to keep him. He finished at Palace as Player of the Year, which is not bad for a loan player. Everywhere he's been, he's given 100%.”

‘An amazing record of availability’

Henry: “The other thing he's got is an amazing record of availability. He very rarely gets injured. I just checked his stats. He's played 290 games, plus 22 for England, 33 goals at club level and then one for England. He's only just 25. He's remarkable. Other things… he takes responsibility, he starts games well - the famous game in the Champions League against Real Madrid last year, where he scored after something like 27 seconds, the first Englishman to score in the Madrid derby. He's just 100%. Of course, they're the basics that you would expect from a footballer, but he does them all really well. He'll get assists, as I say, 33 goals in 290 games at club level is not a bad return. He'll bring energy, he'll bring responsibility, he'll protect the defence, he'll help the forwards. I think he's an absolutely inspired signing. He's exactly what you need.”

‘He’s relentlessly positive’

Henry: “Just one other thing. I remember talking to him at the World Cup. He went to the World Cup, didn't play, obviously played more in the Euros. But he was absolutely brilliant. He came and talked to us, and he was probably frustrated that he wasn't playing because England's midfield was strong, but he was absolutely brilliant. He's also, he went to a very footballing school (Howard of Effingham School, Leatherhead). I remember talking to him about it - Johnny Byrne (West Ham, Palace) was there, Alex Inglethorpe (our former Academy coach) was there. He comes from a very embedded football family. He's a lovely lad and he'll bring some smiles to the place because he's relentlessly positive on and off the pitch.”

Football writer and broadcaster, follow Henry on socials here:IG - @henrywinterinstaX - @henrywinter

You can also listen to Henry on TalkSport’s Sunday Edition, with Shaun Custis, every Sunday morning, 9am-11am.