William Gallas thinks Mauricio Pochettino’s team is being slowed down (Picture: Getty)

William Gallas feels that Conor Gallagher slows Chelsea down and believes that the England international midfielder lacks technical ability.

Gallagher’s future at his boyhood club appears to be in doubt despite being promoted to vice-captain by Mauricio Pochettino and starring as one of the Blues’ best players this season.

Chelsea’s need to balance the books after their unprecedented spending spree under their new owners – and the Americans know that selling a home grown player would represent pure profit on their balance sheet.

Reports earlier this month claimed the west Londoners have already entered into negotiations with rivals Tottenham, who came close to signing Gallagher in the summer window, over a potential £50m deal.

Gallagher, though, is expected to turn down any move away from Chelsea in January and he is keen to remain with the Blues.

Gallas does not appear to be a huge fan of the 23-year-old as he told Gambling Zone: ‘Conor Gallagher is a great runner but quality-wise, he isn’t the same as Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo.

‘He can help your team to press and press very high, but when he has the ball his quality and technique is not number one.

Conor Gallagher has attracted transfer interest from Tottenham (Picture: Getty)

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‘It will take more time to play a pass and find his teammate, take an extra touch and in another situation, he should try and play one touch.

‘I think it’s the opinion of many people that he slows Chelsea down a bit and maybe they need to change their system in order to give the opportunity to another player as this system might not suit them.’

Gallas has also played down talk of Gallagher joining Tottenham as he added: ‘Gallagher wouldn’t want to go to Spurs. He’s a Chelsea boy. Why would they want to buy more midfielders? They’ve got enough quality midfielders.’

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‘His quality and technique is not number one.’