A move to Atletico Madrid in a deal worth €40million (£34m) is fast becoming the likeliest outcome for Conor Gallagher — one that would bring to a close 18 months in which the England international’s future at Chelsea has been the source of endless uncertainty.
Throughout the summer, the message coming out of Stamford Bridge was that two very different options remained open for Gallagher: he could sign a new contract or be sold. Allowing him to go into the final year of his existing deal and reach free agency in July 2025 was one scenario that owners Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly were utterly unwilling to countenance.
So the revelation that Gallagher twice turned down the offer of a new contract at Chelsea — once in early June and again in late July — against the backdrop of serious interest from Atletico Madrid landed with a jolt, undercutting the notion that the Cobham graduate wanted nothing more than to keep playing for his boyhood club.
It is also an incomplete picture of a more nuanced, complicated reality. To tell the fuller story, The Athletic gathered information from various individuals involved in the Gallagher saga, all of whom spoke anonymously in order to protect relationships.
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Why Conor Gallagher is on cusp of Chelsea exit: Short contract offer and fear of free transfer
