Atletico Madrid confirm Conor Gallagher signing from Chelsea taking total spend to €182.5m this summer | OneFootball

Atletico Madrid have confirmed the signing of Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher on a five-year deal, with the 24-year-old England international already training with his new teammates.

The deal is believed to be worth around €42m to Chelsea, with Joao Felix expected to head the other way. Gallagher was wanted by Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa, but gave the green light on a deal minutes before Atletico’s deadline for the offer.

His new club actually tried to pull out of the deal this week, as revealed by Valencia Sporting Director Miguel Angel Corona, who explained they preferred Javi Guerra. Gallagher has made a good impression early on though and after extensive negotiations with Chelsea for Felix, Gallagher has returned to Atletico for a second time.

Atletico Madrid have continued their big-spending summer, taking their total spend to €182.5m this summer, following deals for Robin Le Normand and Alexander Sorloth and Julian Alvarez from Manchester City, it looks as if it could be Atletico’s second biggest ever summer in terms of spending.

Prior to that, in 2019, the signings of Joao Felix, Marcos Llorente, Kieran Trippier, Mario Hermoso, Renan Lodi and Felipe set the base for their second title win under Diego Simeone, although they made nearly €70m profit that summer, due to the sales of Antoine Griezmann, Lucas Hernandez and Rodri Hernandez. This summer, only Felix looks likely to bring in a significant fee so far.