Chelsea have reportedly requested Conor Gallagher to return to England as his proposed transfer to Atletico Madrid risks falling through at the eleventh hour.
The England international has been in Madrid for five days, awaiting the finalization of his move to the LaLiga club.
While his medical has been successfully completed, Atletico Madrid must offload one of their current players to finalize the deal and officially sign Gallagher.
Despite being informed that he would only be a squad player under new Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca, the Blues have now asked Gallagher to return to England, with a flight reportedly being arranged, according to Fabrizio Romano.
Meanwhile, Chelsea’s pursuit of young forward Samu Omorodion, who impressed on loan at Alaves, has also hit a snag.
The deal, which had been expected to go through, stalled after encountering unforeseen complications on Sunday.
Conor Gallagher has been waiting in Madrid without signing a contract, as Atletico continues to work on selling a player to fund his transfer.
Simultaneously, Chelsea are in discussions to bring Portuguese forward João Félix back to Stamford Bridge before the new Premier League season begins.
Félix, who previously enjoyed a short loan spell with Chelsea in 2023, spent last season at Barcelona, where he scored 10 goals in 44 appearances, including seven in La Liga, helping the team secure a second-place finish behind Real Madrid.
Despite expressing his affection for Chelsea, the club opted not to sign him permanently after Atletico Madrid demanded £87 million last summer.
Any negotiations for Félix’s return to Chelsea are independent of Gallagher’s situation, which has now reached a critical point with the transfer window set to close on August 30.
If Félix does return to Chelsea this summer, it will likely be for a significantly lower fee than the £114 million Atletico paid Benfica for him in 2019.
Reports suggest that Atletico may be willing to let Félix join the Blues for an initial fee of less than £40 million, though the player would need to agree to a significant pay cut to fit within Chelsea’s wage structure.
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