Chelsea agreed £34m deal with Atletico Madrid for Conor Gallagher but England midfielder remains open to signing new Blues deal despite turning down third contract extension offer; Tottenham also have an interest, with Gallagher told he will only be squad player under Enzo Maresca.
Atletico Madrid have set Conor Gallagher a deadline to decide whether he will join the Spanish club after a £34m fee was agreed with Chelsea. Gallagher has been told he will only be a squad player under Enzo Maresca, with the new boss favouring a possession-heavy style of play at Chelsea. One source has told Sky Sports News that Chelsea have made two contract offers to Gallagher of two years plus the option of a third. The first offer came four days before the start of the Euros when Gallagher rejected the chance to join Aston Villa. The other, identical to the first, came this week before Chelsea agreed a deal with Atletico Madrid.
Gallagher is open to signing a long-term contract at Chelsea in line with the contract length offered to the other midfielders at the club. If a deal cannot be agreed with Chelsea, Gallagher will continue to assess all his options. Chelsea will meet with him with the aim of resolving the situation. They recognise he is an academy graduate but want to understand what he wants to do.
La Liga side Atletico will give Gallagher until the end of the weekend to decide if he wants to move there.
Chelsea do not want him to run down his contract and leave on a free next summer. They want to avoid a repeat of the situation which saw Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen leave the club without a fee. The salary Chelsea have offered Gallagher is comparable to the highest earners in their midfield and is believed to be comparable to other salary offers he has received.
Gallagher is due back at Cobham from Monday, while Chelsea’s first-team squad continue on their pre-season tour of the US until Wednesday. Gallagher was also offered a new deal in autumn 2022 which he turned down as he wanted to be a regular starter. He became that last season, making 37 starts in the Premier League, scoring five goals.
His seven assists ranked him second among Chelsea players. He was also second for chances created, while topping the club metrics for winning possession.
Chelsea accepted a larger bid from Aston Villa for Gallagher this summer but he decided to reject a move to Villa Park and stay at Stamford Bridge. Spurs remain interested in Gallagher.
Chelsea would prefer to sell him to a club abroad rather than a Premier League rival.
Gallagher has been at Chelsea since he was a youngster and has always preferred the idea of staying and signing a new long-term deal, but that has not been offered on terms he would accept. The contract that he again rejected this week was a two-year deal, plus the option of a third. Chelsea have recently given contracts to players as long as seven years.
He can expect more offers as a free agent next summer, or even earlier in January from clubs abroad. But he has a fight on his hands for a place in the team following the signing of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall in midfield.
Now that he has become an England international and a real Chelsea fan-favourite, he is right to feel ready to play regularly at a big club.
Chelsea have been open to selling Gallagher since last summer, when they valued him at £50m and there was interest from Tottenham and Newcastle.
Selling him would present pure profit on the balance sheet considering he is an academy graduate – at a time when all clubs need to be wary of their spending to stay in line with PSR rules. He was part of Mauricio Pochettino’s plans in January, but following the Argentine’s departure, Chelsea have taken a fresh look at Gallagher’s situation under new boss Enzo Maresca.
He has been offered a new contract several times since 2022, and, as far as Chelsea are concerned, he has been offered terms comparable to the highest earners in their midfield and thought to be comparable to other salary offers he has received.
But with no sign of an agreement, and with a year left on his contract, this August presents the last real opportunity for the club to get a decent fee for his exit.
That has attracted interest from Atletico and other clubs. Sky Sports News understands that Chelsea have also been expecting Tottenham to make a move.
The view from… Atletico Madrid
The Spanish club have been in the market for a player like Gallagher for some time, and they have made him a top target this summer. They had a €30m (£25.4m) offer rejected earlier in the window and have remained interested, despite also being aware of Tottenham’s interest in him too. They have now agreed a €40m (£33.9m) deal with Chelsea to buy him, but do not yet have an agreement with Gallagher himself, continuing talks.
But they will also continue to do due diligence on other targets while Gallagher considers the move and remains undecided.
The view from… Tottenham
It remains to be seen whether Tottenham will intervene in the ongoing situation around Gallagher’s future. They have a long-term interest in the midfielder and tried to sign him last summer, but were not willing to meet Chelsea’s £50m demands. Gallagher had also made an impression on then-head coach Mauricio Pochettino and was beginning to establish himself in his team. It meant that everything did not align for a move to happen, and by January he was a fully-fledged first-team regular for Pochettino; among his best performers.
Spurs are still looking for a player of Gallagher’s profile but they are thought to be focusing on moving players out currently, and do have other targets for the position, such as Jacob Ramsey at Aston Villa.
With Gallagher having not yet been sold on the move to Atletico, it appears Spurs may have some time to make a decision on whether they want to act.
