CONOR GALLAGHER has been banished from the first team at Chelsea.
The England star, 24, was told in a meeting on a Friday that he will not be allowed in the first-team building nor train with Enzo Maresca’s squad when he reports for duty on Monday.
Instead he will be training with a bomb squad that also includes fellow homegrown star Trevoh Chalobah.
Chelsea have been keen to sell Gallagher, who has less than a year remaining on his contract, all summer.
They accepted a £57million from Aston Villa in June before the profit and sustainability deadline but Gallagher turned down the move.
The Blues offered a new contract after saying yes to Villa’s offer but only for two years, with an option of a further year.
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Chelsea are reportedly in talks with Napoli over the sale of Romelu Lukakau while Victor Osimhen could be going the other way on loan.
Conor Gallagher is set to join Atletico Madrid in a deal worth £34million.
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That was in stark contrast to the seven and eight-year contracts they have offered other squad-members and Gallagher snubbed it.
Chelsea then accepted a £33m bid from Atletico Madrid last month, before offering the same fresh terms to Gallagher to renew – which he again turned down.
The Blues’ reasoning for the shorter terms they offered is they no longer see a long-term future at the club for their academy graduate.
They have concerns over his ability to play the possession-based style of new boss Enzo Maresca and are reluctant to offer a long-term deal due to that.
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Despite Gallagher captaining the side for the majority of last season, he is now viewed as only being a squad player should he stay at Stamford Bridge.
Therefore Chelsea do not view it as a sensible decision to commit to a long-term deal which could harm both club and player.
Gallagher was not due to return to Chelsea’s Cobham training base until Monday next week having reached the Euros final with England in July.
But he was asked to attend a meeting on Friday, during which he indicated he would be willing to sign a new long-term contract with his boyhood club.
Yet he was then told he would be denied access to the first-team from Monday onwards.
