Chelsea loanee Gallagher focused on finishing the season strongly at Crystal Palace, says Vieira

Patrick Vieira insists Conor Gallagher is focused on finishing the season strongly with Crystal Palace, despite the uncertainty surrounding his parent club Chelsea.

One of the numerous consequences of the asset-freezing sanctions imposed on Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich by the UK Government is that club are not allowed to hand out new contracts.

Gallagher, who is under contract at Stamford Bridge until 2025, remains free to play for Palace, where he is on a season-long loan.

And boss Vieira says he has not even spoken to the 21-year-old about the situation facing his parent club.

Vieira said: ‘We didn’t talk about it at all.

‘His focus is to finish the season well and finish as well as he started, this is the main concern.

The 21-year-old remains free to play for Crystal Palace, where he is on a season-long loan

‘We spoke this morning about the tactical approach and the game we have on Monday (against Manchester City).

‘We always say we will sit down at the end of the season with Chelsea and Conor and (see) what will be next.

‘But we know we have him for a year then he goes back to Chelsea.’

Palace boss Patrick Vieira has not spoken to Gallagher about the troubles at Chelsea

Gallagher has enjoyed an impressive campaign at Selhurst Park, scoring eight goals from midfield in 24 Premier League games to earn senior England recognition.

Former Arsenal midfielder Vieira declined to talk about what impact the sanctions imposed on Abramovich might have for Chelsea.

He added: ‘What the consequences are I don’t know for Chelsea. It’s something I don’t want to go into too much detail about.’