Tottenham Hotspur’s 2-1 defeat to relegation-threatened West Ham United places more doubt on whether Thomas Frank will make it until the end of the season, but it also marked the start of Conor Gallagher’s career in north London following his January transfer. With that in mind, how did the 25-year-old Englishman play?
A Chelsea academy graduate, Gallagher moved to Atletico Madrid after failing to make the cut at Stamford Bridge – but a hodgepodge 18-month spell in the Spanish capital has resulted in him returning to his homeland and signing for Spurs, who are currently under the stewardship of Frank.
It’s an opportunity for the central midfielder, who has played 22 times for England since making his debut in November 2021, to potentially get himself into Thomas Tuchel’s plans. That said, his first outing (a 2-1 defeat to West Ham on home soil) wasn’t the best welcome he could’ve asked for.
A Closer Look at Conor Gallagher’s Spurs Debut in 2-1 Loss to West Ham
Gallagher became Spurs’ first signing of the mid-season window after he completed a £35 million move from Diego Simeone’s Atletico, and he explained why the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was his chosen destination amid interest from Unai Emery’s Aston Villa. “I wanted to be a Spurs player and thankfully the Club felt the same,” he said while speaking to official club media.
It was very easy, it happened very quickly, and I’m ready to get on the pitch. I know how great the fans are, I’m really happy to be a part of it here and want to create special moments and memories together,” he continued, while living in London is also believed to be a huge factor behind the move.
Thrown straight into the deep end, Gallagher was stationed alongside Archie Gray in the Spurs engine room in their 2-1 defeat to fellow capital club West Ham, who had Callum Wilson to thank for scoring in the 93rd minute. Earlier in the encounter, Crysensio Summerville opened the scoring within 15 minutes before his goal was cancelled out by Cristiano Romero with 26 minutes left on the clock.
Thanks to the home side enjoying the lion’s share of possession, the Englishman had plenty of time to show what he was capable with on the ball. He took 70 touches (nine of which came inside West Ham’s penalty area) and all three of his dribbles were successful.
When Spurs’ backs were against the wall, he looked to push and prod with eight passes into the final third and one chance created for his teammates.
But the Englishman, who played 95 times for boyhood club Chelsea before jumping ship in 2024, struggled to provide anything of note, and he certainly looked like a player who has barely played all season. That’s because he became something of a bit-part midfielder under Simeone in Spain, completing just one 90-minute performance under the Argentine manager.
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Conor Gallager – Career Statistics
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Club
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Matches
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Goals
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Assists
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Yellow/Red Cards
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Chelsea
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95
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10
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10
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22/2
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Atletico Madrid
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77
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7
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7
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6/0
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Crystal Palace
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39
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8
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5
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12/0
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West Bromwich Albion
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32
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2
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2
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12/0
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Charlton Athletic
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26
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6
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4
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8/0
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Swansea City
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21
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0
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7
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3/0
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Tottenham Hotspur
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1
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0
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0
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0/0
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It’ll take him plenty of time to get back up to speed in the Premier League, a league much quicker and more demanding than La Liga. The opportunities for him to impress continue to come thick and fast following a debut to forget as Spurs host Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League on Tuesday before travelling to Turf Moor next weekend.
A string of decent performances could, of course, put him in contention to be picked by Tuchel ahead of this summer’s World Cup in North America. There are a raft of names – Declan Rice, Elliot Anderson and Adam Wharton – all ahead of him at the time of writing, but a lot can change in a short period of time. That’ll be the Epsom-born man’s objective.
‘Wasn’t Up to Pace’ – Spurs Fans React to Gallagher’s Debut
Archie Gray, signed by Leeds United, was Frank’s stand-out man despite the loss – but the majority of eyes were on Gallagher, whose best football came when he was on loan at Crystal Palace in 2020/21. On his display against the Hammers, one fan said: “He was poor in my opinion. Gave the ball away a lot and never really looked comfortable.”
“He was about as good as everyone else (poor) except for Gray, who I thought was very good. Given that he’s come in and had maybe 2 training sessions before playing his first match in a struggling team in a London Derby, I thought he was OK,” another member of the Spurs faithful wrote before another added:
“Awful. Another Paulinha, Gray and Sarr. And not good enough to progress the ball when we need a MGW or Wharton type. Poor recruitment.”
“Not great really, but also not the type of player who would be able to make a difference,” a fourth fan complained, before another suggested that he’ll need time to bed in to his new surroundings. “He was ok. Had some bright moments but went missing for a lot of the game. Considering he’s been with the team for less than 72 hours and the tactics are so poor it’s hard to tell how much of it is on him vs. every other factor.”
“Wasn’t up to pace, but even when he is, he looks like a limited player who’s going to take minutes from Sarr & Bergvall. I hope I’m wrong because he looked a decent footballer on loan at Palace when he first broke through, but after that he’s just looked like a sideways passing yellow card magnet,” a final Spurs supporter concluded.
All statistics per Transfermarkt – correct as of 18/01/2026
