Sam Gallagher (footballer, born 1995)

Milton Keynes Dons (loan)

On 29 July 2015, Gallagher joined Championship side Milton Keynes Dons on loan for the 2015–16 season.^[11][12] Gallagher made his debut for MK Dons in a 4–1 win away to Rotherham United on 8 August.^[13] On 6 January 2016, having failed to score in 15 appearances, he was recalled by Southampton.^[14]

Blackburn Rovers (loan)

On 11 August 2016, Gallagher joined Championship side Blackburn Rovers on a season-long loan deal.^[15] He scored his first goal for Blackburn in a 2–2 draw with Burton Albion on 20 August.^[16] On 20 October, Blackburn's manager, Owen Coyle, expressed his desire to sign Gallagher on a permanent contract, after he scored five goals from nine starting appearances.^[17] He finished the season with 12 goals from 47 appearances – 11 from 43 in the league – as Blackburn were relegated to League One.^[18][19]

Birmingham City (loan)

Gallagher joined another Championship club, Birmingham City, on 21 August 2017 on loan for the 2017–18 season.^[20] As one of 13 new arrivals in a squad whose manager, Harry Redknapp, was sacked a few weeks later, Gallagher had an unsettling start to the season.^[21] He made his debut on 26 August playing as a lone striker in Birmingham's 2–0 home defeat against Reading; according to the Birmingham Mail's reporter, he "was totally starved of service".^[22] His first goal, deflected off defender Michael Dawson in stoppage time in a 6–1 loss at Hull City with incoming manager Steve Cotterill watching from the stands, took nine appearances to arrive.^[23] He welcomed Cotterill's fitness regime, and accepted that team selection would be based on the likelihood of those selected being able to make an impact.^[21][24] Amid speculation that the club might try to end his loan early, he was given a chance on the wing – a position he had played with Blackburn – after Isaac Vassell sustained a long-term injury.^[25][26]

He was then moved into the centre,^[26] and on 16 December, in a 2–1 defeat at home to Queens Park Rangers, he was the Birmingham Mail's man of the match, as he touched home the rebound from Maikel Kieftenbeld's shot as well as making a contribution defensively.^[27] Gallagher opened the scoring in the next match, away to Sunderland, and was sent off for two yellow cards – one for simulation, the second for a foul – as Birmingham held on for a draw.^[28] After serving his one-match ban, the scoring spree continued with a goal in four of the six matches up to the end of January – two wins and a draw in the league, and the only goal of the FA Cup third-round tie against Burton Albion.^[29] When Garry Monk took over in early March, he used Gallagher from the bench in his first match and partnering Lukas Jutkiewicz in a two-man attack in the next, after which a calf injury kept him out until the last three matches of the season.^[29][30] He was a substitute in the first two, and started alongside Jutkiewicz in the last, a 3–1 win at home to Fulham that ensured Championship survival.^[29][31] His six goals made him the team's top league goalscorer.^[32]