Forget Zaha: Palace "star" with 54 tackles has been Vieira's most "important player" - opinion

Crystal Palace had a rather busy previous summer transfer window, not only seeing numerous players come in and out of the south London club but also with Roy Hodgson ending his spell in charge and being replaced by Patrick Vieira.

With 26 Premier League games played, the Eagles have managed to rack up a mixed bag of results with six games won, 11 drawn and nine lost, putting them in 11th place in the league table with 29 points on the board.

Despite their spotty run of results, one player that has been consistently impressive for Vieira’s side this season is midfielder Conor Gallagher.

Since making the move to Selhurst Park on a loan deal from fellow Premier League side Chelsea, the 21-year-old has played more minutes than any other Palace midfielder or attacker, showing how highly rated he is by the Eagles boss.

In his 22 league appearances, the youngster has also shown what an asset he can be in front of goal by scoring a hugely impressive eight goals and providing three assists along the way, which is more goal contributions than Wilfried Zaha has managed to produce.

The Englishman, who has been described as a “star” by Noel Whelan, has also shown how useful he can be from a defensive point of view in midfield by racking up 54 tackles, 17 clearances and 18 interceptions.

In terms of his overall performances, WhoScored have him listed as Palace’s highest-rated player with an overall rating of 7.31/10, which interestingly also makes him the eighth-highest rated player in the entire Premier League this term behind the likes of Mohamed Salah, Bernardo Silva and Kevin De Bruyne.

Having been tipped to be an “important player” for the Eagles by Vieira at the start of the season, Gallagher has certainly lived up to that title