£33m Chelsea star forced into humiliating return to training ground after 5 days in hotel | OneFootball

The sad situation regarding Conor Gallagher’s move to Atletico Madrid has continued, with Nizaar Kinsella of the BBC bringing today’s update.

He claims that the midfielder is expected to return to Cobham today to train after coming back to the UK from Spain.

He’s been kicking his heels in a hotel in Madrid waiting for a deal to be concluded for almost a week now, but the collapse of Samu Omorodion’s move in the other direction cut off the funds that the Spanish side were considering using for him.

Chelsea are keen for a deal to happen now so that they don’t lose the home grown player for free in 11 months. They’re so keen that they are considering buying Joao Felix, a player they don’t really want or need, in order to fund Atletico’s move for Gallagher.

Conor Gallagher with an Atletico Madrid logo.

Gallagher stuck in the middle of bidding war

Poor Conor has been batted back and forth like a shuttlecock here, and must be heartbroken. His boyhood club have made it clear they don’t want him, even after the excellent season he put in last year. They’ve offered him pitiful contracts, and now are seemingly so desperate to sell him that they’re willing to buy Felix to make it happen.

The move to Atletico got so close that the 24 year old was even pictured at the Metropolitano stadium.

Gallagher has done nothing wrong, yet ends up ostracised from one club’s training session and without clearance to join the other club’s. This is terrible preparation for his season, of course, but is also just general humiliation that he’s done nothing to merit.

We’ve always made it clear we would like him to stay at Chelsea, but we’d rather his move to Madrid was done than watch him suffer this indignity.