Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher has been banished from the first-team and will not be allowed into the senior players’ building and train with them when he reports for pre-season on Monday, according to the Sun journalist Tom Barclay.
The 24-year-old will resume training next week after he was given an extended period of rest following his involvement with England at the European Championship last month.
Gallagher has been linked with a move to Atletico Madrid but was at Cobham today for a meeting and would be open to signing a new long-term deal.
I'm told Conor Gallagher has been banished from Chelsea 1st-team. He was in for a meeting at Cobham today, said he'd be open to signing a new long-term deal. But he's been told when he reports to training on Mon, he's not permitted to 1st-team building & won't train with 1st team
— Tom Barclay (@TomBarclay_) August 2, 2024
The Chelsea star is in the final 12 months of his current contract and will not be involved with the first-team until he pens an extension.
Atletico Madrid have given him until the end of this weekend to decide if he wants to move there, and Chelsea do not want him to run down his contract and leave on a free next summer.
The Stamford Bridge club have accepted a bid from Atletico for him and are now waiting for the England international to make a decision on his future, after he rejected a new three-year deal (two years plus the option of a third year) earlier this week.
The Chelsea first-team squad are currently in the United States for their pre-season tour but are due to return to England on Wednesday.
Having lost Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen to Real Madrid and Barcelona, respectively, on free transfers, the Blues want to avoid a repeat of such a situation with Gallagher and have now gone to extreme measures to ensure he signs a new deal or get sold this summer.
Selling him represents pure profit in Financial Fair Play terms, and Chelsea need to balance the books given their activeness in recent transfer windows.
They play Manchester City tomorrow, Real Madrid on Wednesday and Inter Milan on Sunday in their final friendly games of pre-season before kicking off the 2024-25 Premier League campaign against Man City on August 18.
