Felix Chelsea, Merino Arsenal and more

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I thought I’d start with another update on one of the craziest sagas of the summer as we get closer to the ‘here we go’ on the Joao Felix and Conor Gallagher deals – a second ‘here we go’ in the case of Gallagher and Atletico Madrid. As of last night, we can say that Chelsea and Atletico have now advanced to the final stages of the Felix negotiation.

So, they are now working on the final details for Felix to return to Chelsea, and for Gallagher to join Atletico Madrid. As previously reported, the final fee for Felix is not going to be something like €65-70m as has been reported in Spain, but something lower, closer to €40m or maximum €45m, but probably a structure of €40m plus add-ons.

They are still working on it, there are still some details to clarify, sometimes when there are so many different players, agents, intermediaries and other people involved, they have to fix many things, but they are planning to get this deal done.

One important thing to remember is that on Wednesday Atletico are planning to unveil their new signings at their stadium, so although this is not an official deadline, they would love to have Gallagher there after such a long and crazy saga. They’re working to get it done and I’ll keep you posted on the details of when it looks like finally being completed.

We are at the final meters and final details of the Mikel Merino to Arsenal deal, with my sources indicating that it could be something like 24-48 hours before we can say ‘here we go’ – it’s really, really close. They’re almost there, working on the final steps, and then Merino will become a new Arsenal player.

There is already an agreement on the final fee, and the clubs have been working in the last two or three weeks on the payment terms, the deal structure, the add-ons, and they are now getting closer on all the details of the deal.

Merino is extremely close to becoming an Arsenal player, and he can’t wait to play for Mikel Arteta after some conversations with the Gunners manager. Similarly to the Calafiori saga, Merino is super attracted to the project and believes Arsenal is the perfect place to be.

Merino was not…