After impressing in the Championship last season during loan spells with Charlton Athletic and Swansea City, Chelsea decided that Conor Gallagher would spend this year playing Premier League football for the first time in his career.
The 20-year-old is a highly-rated midfielder to come through the Blues academy and he moved to the Hawthorns on a season-long loan.
Gallagher has quickly established himself as a starter in the West Brom XI and the early signs are that he could end up moving himself up the Chelsea pecking order if his form continues.
The England Under-21 international has played in back-to-back Premier League games against Burnley and Brighton, where he’s been one of his side’s most impressive players.
He’s an all-action central midfielder that caught the eye on his top-flight debut against Burnley, as he showed the tremendous energy he’s renowned for and was one of West Brom’s most confident players on the ball.
The Chelsea loanee backed that up on Monday against Brighton by displaying his incredible range of passing and a willingness to get forward.
It’s going to be a battle for Gallagher this season in a team that will be fighting relegation, but he immediately looks at home in the Premier League and Chelsea fans have every right to be excited by him.
He’s yet to make his first-team debut for the Blues, but manager Frank Lampard must have his eye on him and he could end up breaking into the team at Stamford Bridge further down the line.
The Chelsea pecking order for midfield positions is stiff with the likes of N’Golo Kante, Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic and Mason Mount current first-team players in that role.
But in the tier behind them you have the likes of Ross Barkley and Ruben Loftus-Cheek who have exited on loan, so a strong individual campaign from Gallagher in the Premier League should give him a good chance of moving up the pecking order.