Conor Gallagher Told to Return to Chelsea as Atletico Madrid Transfer Stalls

Chelsea has asked Conor Gallagher to return to England as his move to Atletico Madrid faces potential collapse, according to reports. The England international has been in Madrid for five days, awaiting finalization of the transfer after traveling there for a medical.

A £33.7 million transfer fee had been agreed between Chelsea and Atletico, and Gallagher traveled to the Spanish capital with Chelsea’s permission. While he has completed his medical, Atletico must offload a player to finalize the deal and secure Gallagher’s move.

Despite being informed that he would only be a squad player under new Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca, the club has now requested Gallagher to return to England, with a flight reportedly being arranged, as noted by Fabrizio Romano.

While Gallagher waits in Madrid without signing personal terms, Atletico is still trying to complete a sale to fund the transfer. Meanwhile, Chelsea is also negotiating to bring Portuguese forward Joao Felix back to Stamford Bridge for the upcoming Premier League season. Felix previously had a brief loan spell with Chelsea in 2023, scoring four goals in 16 Premier League appearances, and recently spent the season at Barcelona.

Felix scored 10 goals in 44 appearances for Barcelona, including seven in La Liga, where they finished second to Real Madrid. Ongoing discussions for Felix are separate from Gallagher’s situation, which remains unresolved as the transfer window closes on August 30.

Chelsea is now focused on bringing Felix back to west London for a much lower fee than the £114 million Atletico paid Benfica in 2019, with the potential deal expected to be less than £40 million. Felix would need to accept a pay cut to join Chelsea.