An offer for Conor Gallagher has been agreed by Atletico Madrid, but it isn’t as simple as that, as Chris Moore reports.
Chelsea is desperately looking to offload Conor Gallagher in the coming days. The midfielder has recently rejected two different contract extension offers from the Blues. This most recent decline occurred on Wednesday. The proposal would have reportedly made Gallagher one of the highest-paid players in the squad. Raheem Sterling currently earns the biggest salary of the team, as the attacker rakes in around $415,000 each week.
Twenty-one Chelsea players supposedly make more money than the England international. Gallagher’s current contract is also set to expire in the summer of 2025. Due to the precarious state of financial affairs at the club, the Blues would prefer to sell the midfielder this summer. They previously watched Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen join other clubs as free agents and they do not want a similar situation with Gallagher.
Chelsea have, however, found a potential partner to sell the midfielder. Atletico Madrid has agreed to pay the Blues around $43 million to sign Gallagher. Although the west London side has accepted the fee, the player has not yet given his final answer. Due to the delay, Atleti is reportedly giving Gallagher until the end of the weekend to decide on his future.
Nevertheless, Chelsea is allegedly doing what they can to essentially force Gallagher to move to Spain. According to reports, new Blues boss Enzo Maresca has informed the midfielder that he will not be a part of the first team’s dressing room heading into the future. Gallagher is still on summer vacation but had planned to come back to begin training this coming Monday.
English journalist Tom Barclay has also claimed that Gallagher met with team officials on Friday to discuss the situation. Although he did not train, the midfielder made an appearance at the club’s training facility. In the talks, Gallagher expressed that he was still open to signing a new contract at Chelsea. However, officials proceeded to tell the player that he would not be allowed in the first team building moving forward.
Chelsea’s handling of the situation is certainly unbecoming for a club. After all, Gallagher has spent the last 16 years with the team. He previously joined the Blues at the age of eight. He subsequently worked his way up from their youth ranks to the first team. Although he endured four different loan spells in just two years, the midfielder eventually became a mainstay with Chelsea’s senior team during the 2022/23 season.
Gallagher is also currently the team’s third captain at the moment. The Englishman even donned the armband for a large portion of the 2023/24 campaign following injuries to Reece James and Ben Chilwell.
Along with Atleti, Chelsea also recently accepted a proposal for Gallagher from Aston Villa. The midfielder, however, rejected the chance to join Unai Emery’s team. Aston Villa is set to feature in the Champions League this coming season for the first time in 40 years. Chelsea, on the other hand, will next play in the third-tiered Conference League.
Tottenham Hotspur also retains interest in the midfielder as well. Nevertheless, the Blues would undoubtedly prefer to sell Gallagher abroad, rather than to a direct English rival.
Photo: IMAGO / Sportimage
