Conor Gallagher to leave Chelsea?

The England international midfielder has been linked with a departure from the Blues, with Atletico Madrid a likely destination – though he has been linked with Spurs.

Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea have of course been very active in the transfer market, especially with players coming into the club through the doors at Cobham. Players such as Tosin Adarabioyo, Omari Kellyman, Filip Jorgensen, and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. There have of course been outgoings, and it looks likely that movement transfer wise in and out of the club is set to continue in the coming weeks as we edge ever closer to the start of the 2024/25 season.

Players to have left the Blues via the exit door so far include Ian Maatsen to Aston Villa, Lewis Hall to Newcastle United, Omari Hutchinson to Ipswich Town, Hakim Ziyech to Galatasaray, Malang Sarr to Lens, and finally Thiago Silva to Fluminense.

One more player has been heavily linked with a move away from Chelsea – and this is England international midfielder Conor Gallagher. Gallagher has been linked with a summer move to a number of clubs, including Spurs, Aston Villa, and Spanish La Liga Giants Atletico Madrid.

It does seem that Diego Simeone’s Atletico are the most likely to get his signature with the Rojiblancos reported to be waiting for Gallagher’s decision on whether he signs a contract with a club or whether he’ll opt to remain with Chelsea, at least for now.

It looks very likely that Gallagher will leave West London with him reported to have turned down a new contract with the club. It seems that the only question that needs to be answered is where his future lies.

Reports say that Chelsea and Atletico Madrid have agreed a deal worth in the region of £34 million (€40 million), and, as mentioned earlier on, it is now up to the 24 year old whether he decides to make the move to the Spanish Capital for the next chapter of his career.

Gallagher is a product of the Chelsea Youth Academy, having joined the West London Club at the age of just 8 back in 2008. His first taste of senior football came on loan with Charlton Athletic in the 2019/20 EFL Championship, where he impressed by scoring 6 goals and 4 assists in 26 matches in the English Second Tier.

He followed this up with an impressive campaign with another Championship side, this time in the form of Swansea City. He made 21 appearances in the league for the Swans, and his contributions, which included no less than 7 assists helped the Welsh outfit into the Promotion Play-offs, where they lost 3 – 2 on aggregate over two legs in the Semi-Finals against Brentford.

Gallagher then stepped up into the Premier League, going out on loan to West Bromwich Albion. Despite relegation, the central midfielder did nonetheless impress throughout the 2020/21 top flight season, and he did also score 2 goals and get 2 assists in his 30 appearances in the top tier of English Football.

Crystal Palace then came calling, with him joining the Eagles on loan for the duration of the 2021/22 Premier League season. Gallagher made 39 appearances in all competitions for the South London outfit, with 34 of these appearances coming in the league alone where he would score 8 goals whilst getting 3 assists to boot.

After all of these successful loan spells, Conor Gallagher became a regular member of the Chelsea First team starting eleven, making 35 appearances with 3 goals and 1 assist to boot, and last season he got 5 goals and 7 assists in 37 Premier League matches for the Blues.

His impressive form has not only earned him senior international honours with 18 Caps for the England National Team, it has seen him linked with a number of clubs. Atletico Madrid do look like they will get his signature, but Gallagher is yet to make a definitive decision as of the time of writing.

Even if he does end up leaving the West London Club, there is still cause for optimism for the upcoming 2024/25 season with some promising additions already confirmed, and there is more than enough time left for the squad to get even stronger.

Therefore, there is still plenty of excitement and anticipation ahead of the 2024/25 Premier League season, and there is strong optimism that Chelsea can enjoy a very successful campaign in the English Top Flight with Enzo Maresca’s side targeting a return to the UEFA Champions League via a top four finish.

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