With his transfer to Atletico Madrid put on hold, Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher will be back at Cobham for training on Wednesday. Gallagher returned from Madrid on Tuesday.

As his boyhood club and the LaLiga giants iron out the details of a £33.7 million transfer to the capital, the Blues academy product has spent the last five days in Spain.

To finalize the deal for Gallagher, Atletico will have to release one of their current players. This follows a sensational summer in which they snatched Julian Alvarez from Manchester City for £81 million. As part of the setup at Stamford Bridge under new boss Enzo Maresca, Gallagher, who has been a Blues player since he was eight years old, is believed to have been informed that he will only play a rank-and-file squad role.

Chelsea reportedly urged Gallagher to return to England while negotiations continue; Tuesday marked his return to London. This is because he is still a Chelsea player. Atletico Madrid thought they had found their savior in Chelsea, who had been pursuing several players from the club.

A deal for youthful forward Samu Omorodion, valued at £34.5 million, has been being considered by the west London hierarchy.

However, the 20-year-old allegedly canceled the transfer at the last minute, prompting Chelsea to rekindle their interest in Joao Felix, a player they had already signed on loan.

The promising young Portuguese player had a stint at Stamford Bridge in the second half of the 2022–23 season, but Mauricio Pochettino, who had just taken over as manager, thought he wasn’t needed.

After resuming talks, the two teams are eyeing the 24-year-old, who played in 20 games for Chelsea and scored four goals. Man City offered Felix, who Chelsea reportedly values at £55 million, as a makeweight in a £64 million deal for Alvarez, following his successful loan season at Barcelona last season.

After Benfica transferred Felix to Atletico for £114 million in July 2019, he became the fourth most expensive player in history.

The future of the Portugal international is up in the air despite his preseason appearances for Diego Simeone’s squad.

Chelsea may be left with an enraged figure in an already crowded locker room if Atletico fail to reach an agreement with the Premier League club.

Maresca is looking to strengthen his attacking ranks, and the Blues have been very active throughout the transfer window to date. They hope to add to this by bringing in more players. In their most recent transfer, Pedro Neto was confirmed to have joined Chelsea from Wolves for £54 million during halftime of Sunday’s 1-1 friendly against Inter Milan.

The winger’s addition lifts the west London club’s total roster to an astounding 43 players, with a further 10 players added this transfer window alone.