It’s been another busy summer at Stamford Bridge, with Chelsea following up last season’s sixth-place Premier League finish by parting company with boss Mauricio Pochettino and then embarking on another breakneck transfer window.
The signing of Boca Juniors defender Aaron Anselmino on Thursday saw the club’s spending rachet up to more than £130million as he became the eighth new arrival this summer.
The club have managed to recoup around £90million through the sakes of Ian Maatsen, Lewis Hall and Omari Hutchinson, but perhaps the most controversial decision made in west London this summer surrounds midfielder Conor Gallagher.
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The England international has been closing in on a move to Atletico Madrid in recent days and arrived in the Spanish capital on Thursday in order to complete his £33million transfer, a move which eases the club’s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) concerns but has not gone down well with fans, who do not want to see another homegrown player, who was one of the club’s best performers last year, leave the club.
Reports in Spain, however, suggest that these Chelsea fans almost got what they wanted, as Atletico Madrid tried to pull the plug on the deal at the 11th hour. Spanish outlet AS reported comments from Valencia director Miguel Angel Corona, who claimed that Atletico wanted to abandon their move for Gallagher in favour of Los Ches midfielder Javi Guerra.
When asked about Guerra’s situation, Corona said: “What happened with Atlético is that there was a maximum agreement on Sunday between the president and the largest shareholder of Atlético de Madrid.
“On Monday the documentation is developed with a closed agreement. On Wednesday morning we asked the owner of Atlético de Madrid, and they answered that they want to get out of the Gallagher operation.
“We decided to leave there because we did not have the information that the operation was binding. Javi Guerra and we withdrew from the negotiation.
“On Monday they told us ‘don’t worry, we are leaving the Gallagher operation, our only objective is Javi Guerra’. On Wednesday the largest shareholder apologises to us.”
With Gallagher having touched down in Madrid on Thursday morning to complete the move, it would appear that any potential Atletico U-turn is dead in the water and that the 24-year-old will be plying his trade at the Metropolitano Stadium, where he is set to play alongside Julian Alvarez, who is set to complete his move from Manchester City.
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