Why Gallagher's Atletico move is yet to go through

Chelsea plan to recall midfielder Conor Gallagher to London later on Tuesday as a deal is worked out with Atletico Madrid.

The La Liga club need to raise funds by selling a player before completing the £34m move for the 24-year-old, who has spent much of the past week living in a hotel in Madrid.

The limits of the Spanish club's spending power are partly down to the £81.5m outlay to sign Julian Alvarez from Manchester City, which was completed on Monday.

Gallagher is believed to want the move to Atletico and has both completed a medical and signed the paperwork on a new contract.

But after striker Samu Omorodion's move going the other way collapsed, it has left Gallagher in limbo.

There are new talks for Chelsea to re-sign forward Joao Felix instead, but negotiations could take time and are fraught with uncertainty as both clubs push for a favourable price.

Felix spent six months on loan at Chelsea in 2023 and scored four goals in 20 matches during his brief spell in England.

There is also a small chance that Chelsea's talks to sign Omorodion could be revived or a major player sale to another club could help Gallagher's move to go through.