Chelsea star now getting closer to exit as direct talks held over €35-40m transfer

Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher is reportedly getting closer to a transfer to Atletico Madrid as the two clubs are now in direct talks over a potential €35-40m deal.

Gallagher was a key player for Chelsea last season, but he’s now in the final year of his contract with the Blues and it seems like they’ve decided to cash in on him instead of trying to negotiate a new deal to keep him at the club.

Chelsea fans will no doubt have mixed feelings about this, as Gallagher has shown himself to be someone with big potential, even if the west London giants also have other options in that position and perhaps couldn’t turn down the chance to make pure profit from the sale of a homegrown player.

See below for details on Gallagher’s potential move to Atletico from Fabrizio Romano on X…

???? EXCLUSIVE: Atlético Madrid and Chelsea are now in direct talks for Conor Gallagher deal.

Negotiations underway for package worth around €35/40m add-ons included, requested by Chelsea.

Gallagher, on top of Atlético list as revealed in May — now getting closer. pic.twitter.com/1SFMadRGtD

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 30, 2024

Gallagher could be a fine signing for Atletico, while one imagines plenty of other clubs must have at least considered him, even if things never seemed to advance on other potential moves.

As reported yesterday by Football Insider, both Tottenham and Aston Villa had seemingly been in the mix for Gallagher, though already by that stage there was growing confidence that he would make the move to Madrid.

It will be interesting to see how the 24-year-old fares in his move abroad, with English players now tending to be more open to these experiences than in the past.

Chelsea have also sold other homegrown players like Tammy Abraham, Fikayo Tomori and Ruben Loftus-Cheek abroad in recent times, and this should end up being good business for them given that they never had to pay a fee for Gallagher, who came up through their academy.

Chelsea have had a busy summer, but one imagines they won’t be replacing Gallagher as they already have Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo in that area of their squad.