by Diego Simeone personally assured Conor Gallagher that he was still keen to sign the midfielder to Atletico Madrid before Gallagher boarded his flight back to London.
Gallagher returned to England on Tuesday night with his £33.7million transfer to Atletico hanging in the balance after Samu Omorodion’s move to Chelsea fell through.
But Telegraph Sports can reveal that Atletico manager Simeone contacted Gallagher shortly before his return to the UK to reassure the England international that he still wants him at the Estadio Metropolitano this season.
Simeone wanted to make sure that when Gallagher returned to England he had no doubts about whether he wanted him or not and that he knew how highly he was regarded.
Gallagher passed the medical at Atletico and the contracts between the Spanish club and Chelsea were ready for completion before the transfer stalled.
Simeone is now desperately hoping that his club can find a solution and sign Gallagher, while Atletico try to find a new buyer for Omorodion and sell Joao Felix, who has been offered to Chelsea, to raise money.
This despair is shared by thousands of Atletico fans who have posted messages on social media with the hashtag “GallagherRojiblanco,” which means “Gallagher red and white.”
While Atletico are upset that Chelsea did not complete the transfer of Omorodion, which would have allowed them to go through with Gallagher’s transfer, there is frustration in circles connected to the deal that the Spanish club spent so much money on £81.5million Manchester City striker Julián Álvarez after agreeing to sign Gallagher.
Gallagher is expected to return to Chelsea’s Cobham training ground on Wednesday afternoon, where he is likely to undergo a fitness test away from head coach Enzo Maresca’s first-team squad.
It will then be up to Chelsea and Maresca whether Gallagher will be integrated back into first-team training or whether he will have to join players like Trevoh Chalobah in the development squad.
Gallagher had been warned that he would not be able to train with the first team if he did not leave Chelsea this summer, after turning down the same contract offer twice.
In addition to negotiations with Atletico over Gallagher and Felix, Chelsea are monitoring the situation of a number of strikers and attackers, including Napoli’s Victor Osimhen.
Napoli are keen to sign Romelu Lukaku, who has trained with Chelsea’s Under-21 team, but Osimhen’s wage demands and the evaluation the Italian club requires of him remain a hurdle to overcome.
