Conor Gallagher will return to training at Cobham on Wednesday having flown back to England with the Chelsea midfielder’s £33.7m deal to join Atletico Madrid still in flux

Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher will return to training at Cobham on Wednesday after flying back from Madrid on Tuesday with his move to Atletico on hold. 

The Blues academy product has been in Spain for the last five days with the finer points of a £33.7million move to the capital being worked out between his boyhood club and the LaLiga big beasts. 

But Atletico will need to offload one of their own players to complete the deal to sign Gallagher, after a blockbuster summer which has seen them tempt Julian Alvarez away from Manchester City for a fee of £81m. 

Gallagher, who has been with the Blues since the age of eight, is thought to have been told that he will only be a rank-and-file squad player as part of new manager Enzo Maresca‘s set-up at Stamford Bridge. 

However, as he remains a Chelsea player, the club are believed to have told the player to return to England while talks continue – with Gallagher returning to London on Tuesday. 

The Chelsea academy product is thought to be surplus to Enzo Maresca’s requirements

Gallagher and his family have spent the last few days in Spain awaiting confirmation of move

Chelsea have been courting a number of Atletico players and looked to be the answer to the club’s prayers. 

The west London hierarchy have been eyeing a move for young forward Samu Omorodion to the tune of £34.5m. 

But at the 11th hour the 20-year-old reportedly called off the move – only for Chelsea to reignite their interest in former loan signing Joao Felix. 

The Portugal starlet previously spent the latter half of the 2022-23 season at Stamford Bridge, but was also deemed to be surplus to requirements by then-incoming manager Mauricio Pochettino. 

The two clubs are once again in conversation about the 24-year-old, who scored four goals in his 20 games in Chelsea blue. 

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