Conor Gallagher will fly back to England TONIGHT as the Chelsea midfielder remains unclear over his £33.7million transfer to Atletico Madrid – after the Blues told the player to return after five days in Spain

Conor Gallagher will fly back from Madrid this evening as his planned move to Atletico Madrid may fall through.

The Blues Academy product has been in Spain for the past five days, where his boyhood club and the LaLiga leaders are currently negotiating the details of his £33.7m transfer to the capital.

But to complete the deal and sign Gallagher, Atletico will have to offload one of their own players after a successful summer in which they poached Julian Alvarez from Manchester City.

Gallagher is said to have been told that he would be just a player in new coach Enzo Maresca’s squad at Stamford Bridge.

However, since he continues to play for Chelsea, the club are said to have told the player to return to England while talks continue.

Conor Gallagher will return to England to bide his time before moving to Spain

The product of the Chelsea academy is likely to be superfluous for Enzo Maresca’s new requirements

Gallagher and his family have spent the last few days in Spain and are waiting for confirmation of the move

Chelsea courted numerous players from Atletico and seemed to be the answer to the club’s prayers.

The west London club management is eyeing a transfer of young striker Samu Omorodion for £34.5 million.

But at the last minute, the 20-year-old reportedly called off the transfer – whereupon Chelsea rekindled their interest in former loan player Joao Felix.

The Portuguese star already spent the second half of the 2022-23 season at Stamford Bridge, but was deemed surplus to requirements by then-new manager Mauricio Pochettino.

The two clubs are again in talks about the 24-year-old, who scored four goals in his 20 games for Chelsea.

Diego Simeone will be forced to sell players to sign Gallagher before next season

Outsider Joao Felix of Atletico Madrid could still move in the other direction as the club looks to get rid of players

Felix – valued at £55m by Chelsea – was previously offered to Man City as compensation when the sides negotiated an initial £64m deal for Alvarez shortly after his loan spell at Barcelona last season.

Felix became the fourth most expensive player in history in July 2019 when Benfica sold him to Atletico for £114 million.

The Portuguese international played for Diego Simeone’s team in pre-season, but his future remains uncertain.

If Atletico fail to reach an agreement with the Premier League team, Chelsea could be left with a disgruntled figure in the dressing room, which feels increasingly cramped.

Atletico youngster Samu Omorodion is said to have cancelled a move to Chelsea at short notice

Pedro Neto became Chelsea’s 10th signing on Sunday in another busy summer of the Clearlake Capital era

The Blues have played a very active role in the transfer window so far and are looking to add more players to the team as Maresca will strengthen his attacking lines.

Chelsea recently announced the signing of Pedro Neto from Wolves for £54 million, confirming his move south during half-time of their 1-1 friendly against Inter Milan on Sunday.

With the arrival of the winger, the West London club’s squad grows to an incredible 43 players, with 10 new signings brought in during this transfer window alone.